Naruto: Mokuzaimusha
by JackOfBladesX
Summary: What if Naruto is an indirect relative of the first Hokage. What if his spirit broke a long time ago. What if he hated Konaha. What if he learned a move other than Kage Bunshin. I hope it's better than it sounds...Terminated and adopted.
1. The Third Mokuzaimusha

**Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto. **

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**Chapter 1: The third Mokuzai-musha**

_---Konahagakure---_

The village of Konahagakure was like any ordinary village. Villagers…Merchants…Farmers…Ninjas…Giant Frogs…Ok maybe it's not like any other ordinary village. Konahagakure is one of the five Great Ninja Villages, though there are other hidden villages…none of them are considered as great as these. In these villages'…ninjas, weapons, and chakra-based techniques are common. However…Konahagakure has one thing that isn't as common…a Jinchuriki.

In a dark alley, inside of Konahagakure, lay a boy. Silent tears ran from his dead blue eyes. His normally spiky blond hair was matted down with blood. Odd whisker marks adorned his face, three on each cheek. His clothes are ripped and torn, also stained with the red lifeblood. This was the third time this week that he was in this position…and it was only Tuesday.

He started to lift himself off the ground…a smile adorned his face, an odd chuckle came from his mouth…He rose himself up off the ground…and limped back to his small apartment…he would be late for class…but why would he care? No one else ever did.

_---Naruto's Apartment---_

Naruto reached his apartment and looked around with a sigh, the smile still on his face. It was a mess…broken pieces of wood were everywhere, the carpet was stained with blood, as were the walls. Blood wasn't the only thing that stained the walls though. Black paint covered the normally white walls. There were a number of things on these walls ranging from and to…

_DIE FOX!_

_DEMON BASTARD!_

_YOU WILL BURN!_

Paper was also glued to the wall, in an odd and on organized manner, as if the person who placed it their wanted to make the apartment look worse than what it already did look like. The papers read…

_HOW TO KILL A DEMON FOX_

Then drawings; with a blonde blue-eyed boy as the focal point, having a fox tail, fox ears, and whisker marks; showing off gruesome ways of 'Just-fully Executing' the fox child. Some ranging to burning at the stake, beheading, and disembowelment.

The blonde shrugged and extended his senses…He sense no one inside of his apartment; though he didn't know why he bothered doing this…the ones who had the courage to attack his apartment would be beyond his abilities to sense. Naruto shrugged and went to the bathroom. He undressed and used the sink to wash his hair and face…after he finished he once again extended his senses. He shrugged and went to his bed…it was nothing but a torn up, burnt mattress. He pushed it aside and found the sheet that was under it. He pulled out the sheet and wrestled with a floorboard. He lifted it up and reached inside. He found something that seemed to create a small spark in his eyes, though it left just as quickly. He pulled it out.

What he pulled out was a Wakizashi. The blade had a light blue sheath, with a silver dragon on it. The hilt was black and silver. He slightly unsheathed the wakizashi to reveal a silver blade and very sharp edge. He mused the thought of taking it with him today, but quickly discarded the thought, "Maybe I should learn how to use this…" He said to himself.

He placed the blade back into its sheath and back into the hidden compartment. He reached back into the hidden compartment and pulled out a set of his normal outfit. Long orange pants. A black long sleeve shirt. An orange jacket, with the sleeves cut at the shoulder. Finally blue ninja sandals. He looked back into the compartment to see a pair of broken blue goggles. He sighed when he saw them, though the smile that he had since he got up from the alley had not left his face. His sleeveless jacket was left unzipped, showing his black shirt. He put back the floorboard and re-covered the area.

The blonde turned and ran out the door, not even bothering to lock the door on his way out.

_---Ninja Academy---_

Naruto walked into the ninja academy.

"YOUR LATE NARUTO!", screamed his teacher. Most of the students were looking at him with a snicker. Naruto shrugged and went to his seat near the back of the class.

Iruka frowned at the grinning blonde…he noticed the limp…he noticed the bruises on his face…he even noticed the faint scent of blood… 'Naruto…' Iruka sighed but broke out of his reverie. "Today is the genin exam. This year's exam will be the, **Bunshin no Jutsu (Doppelganger Technique)**."

Naruto mentally frowned, 'my worst jutsu…oh well…who cares whether I pass or not.'

"I will be calling you to the back room where we'll have the exam privately."

_---About an Hour later---_

"NARUTO UZAMAKI!"

Naruto got up and made his way to the back room, ignoring the whispers he was receiving.

"Good luck…Dobe." Someone snickered.

"Just give up now dead-last."

"Why do you even bother…this is your third attempt."

Naruto ignored all the words.

He just made his way to the back of the room.

_---Back Room---_

Naruto stood in front of his Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei. "Ok Naruto…when you're ready."

Naruto, still with his eerie smile, did the necessary hand seals. "**Bunshin no Jutsu**"

In a poof of smoke, Naruto materialized a dead looking clone.

Iruka sighed, "You fail Naruto…"

Naruto shrugged and left.

Iruka was upset…so upset he missed the smirk on Mizuki's face.

_---About an Hour later---_

Parents had come to congratulate their children. Naruto sat alone on a swing, still smiling. Suddenly he felt a hand on his back. He turned to see Mizuki standing behind him… "Hey…I'd like to talk to your for a second Naruto."

_---Around 11:00pm---_

Naruto was running through the village, jumping from building to building. He was lucky that no one noticed the large scroll on his back. He thought back to what Mizuki had said.

---Flashback---

_"Naruto…there is a way that you can still become a genin." This slightly caught Naruto's interest, so Mizuki continued. "If you sneak into the kage's tower and steal the scroll of seals…you'll have a shot…you only have to learn one Jutsu from that scroll and you can automatically pass…"_

_Naruto simply smiled…the only indication that he had heard Mizuki was the way he looked up towards the sky, as if he were in deep thought. Naruto shrugged, "No thanks…"_

_Mizuki was shocked, "What!"_

_Naruto shrugged again, "I honestly don't really care…"_

_Mizuki seethed inside…but didn't let it show. He had to think of another plan…he smiled, "Iruka will be disappointed…" This caught Naruto's attention. "He really wanted you to pass…you two are so alike…both being orphans and all…"_

_Naruto thought about it again…Iruka was always so friendly to him…He was one of the only people who cared about him…the second being the Kage…Naruto sighed, "Alright…I'll do it…"_

_Mizuki grinned at this turn of event. He looked at the boy, and like always resisted the urge to turn away in fear…that smile…that creepy eerie smile…always got to people…No matter what…Naruto never lost his wide foxy smile… 'I got to get the hell out of here.' "Ok…then…good luck Naruto…"_

---End Flashback---

Naruto sighed…why was he doing this… He jumped off a building and dashed into the forest…he ran to a clearing in the forest…no one ever went that far into it so he'll be safe their.

_---Outside the Kage Tower---_

"HOKAGE-SAMA! This time Naruto just went to Far!", screamed an angry shinobi.

"THAT'S RIGHT! We should take this chance to kill the demon."

The Hokage for his part didn't waver in his decision. He sent a wave of killer intent out. "You will return Naruto here to me **unharmed**! I'll be the one to decide his punishment! Remember this!" Thought his words were barely above a whisper, everyone heard it; they felt a drop in temperature do to the ice in his voice. They nodded and disappeared to find the blonde kitsune. 'Naruto…I thought your pranking days were over…Curse you Arashi…how am I suppose to protect your son…' Thought the aged kage with a sad look on his face.

He turned to walk up the tower and find his crystal ball.

_---Deep in the Forest---_

Naruto open the scroll next to an old shed and began reading.

"**_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)_**…hmmm…don't see the point of learning another clone technique…can't even get the simpler one right." He kept reading through the scrolls. "**_Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan (Wood Release Secret Technique: Birth of Dense Woodland)._** Hmmm…well I can't spend all day reading…this one looks interesting… wonder what the hell a Hijutsu is? Oh well probably not important…" Naruto mused, not knowing that Hijutsu stood for Secret technique…a technique only doable by those of a certain blood. He also didn't know that this technique was only usable by two men, one being the founder of Konahagakure.

_---About an Hour later---_

Iruka jumped into the clearing where he found Naruto. He saw that the boy was completely exhausted, the scroll of seals on the floor, rolled up. "I FOUND YOU NOW!"

Naruto merely looked at the man, still smiling, "I did it…I learned a technique from the scroll…now I can pass right?"

Iruka stared at him with wide eyes, "What the hell gave you that idea?" That's when Iruka heard it, several shurikan flying at the boy. Iruka jumped at Naruto and pushed him aside, taking the shurikans in his back.

Iruka grunted in pain. He turned to see the smirking face of Mizuki…he was shocked.

"MIZUKI-SENSEI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Naruto screamed out, his smile finally fading from his face.

Mizuki glared at the boy, "SHUT UP BRAT!" Naruto didn't even cringe though…something which angered Mizuki, "Now Naruto…bring me the scroll."

Iruka's eyes widened, "It was you…you were the one who told Naruto that lie…"

Mizuki chuckled again. "That's right…"

"Why…"

"For my own power of course…" Mizuki turned to Naruto, "Now bring me the scroll."

Iruka turned to the boy, "Naruto! Run! I'll distract Mizuki…"

Mizuki laughed, "Oh stop messing around…you know you don't care about him…" Iruka glared at Mizuki. "Naruto…do you know why everyone treats you the way they do?"

Iruka's eyes widened, "STOP MIZUKI."

"Didn't you ever wonder why they hurt you…why they shunned you…why the hated you for JUST BEING ALIVE!"

Naruto, still smile-less asked, "Why…"

"DON'T! IT'S FORBIDDEN!"

"The Nine-tailed fox! The KYUUBI! It's inside of YOU! YOU ARE THE NINE-TAILED FOX!" Mizuki said with a maniacal laugh.

Naruto's eyes widened… "It all makes sense now…" He whispered.

"NARUTO RUN AWAY!"

"Why do you continue to lie Iruka…we both know you hate him…Naruto…when you were the Kyuubi…you killed Iruka's parents…he always hated you…"

"STOP LIEING MIZUKI!"

"So…this is the truth…" Naruto's face twisted into his same eerie smile. "Hn…it all makes sense."

Iruka and Mizuki both cringed at the sight of him.

"NARUTO RUN!"

Mizuki grabbed one of the large shurikan that was on his back. He threw it at the boy. "DIE DEMON FOX!"

Time seemed to slow down… Iruka just watched Naruto from his position on the ground. 'Naruto will move…he'll move… he'll move…' Iruka's eyes widened and his heart stopped. Naruto lifted his chin, exposing his neck.

Something flashed in Iruka's mind.

---Flashback---

_Iruka burst into the waiting room of the hospital. There, he found the hokage and a few ANBU. "Where's Naruto? What happened to him?"_

_Hokage sighed, "An ANBU found him trying to hang himself…"_

_Iruka's eyes widened…It almost killed him…he was just starting to get close to the prankster…the boy that he used to hate…the one who reminded him of himself._

_---EndFlashback---_

That was the four years ago. The day that Naruto lost his spirit. The day that his heart died. The people kept pushing him closer to the edge…and he finally broke.

Iruka cursed himself in part. He could've done more for the boy. He laughed himself in front of Naruto, taking the giant shurikan with a sick stabbing noise.

Some type of liquid hit Naruto's face…he didn't even grimace when he saw that it was some blood that Iruka spat up. His eyes widened though…

"Naruto…I'm so sorry…I'm sorry for not being their…I'm sorry for not helping you more…I could've been their for you…you used to be just like me…the type that just wanted attention…but I LET that part of you die…and I'm SO sorry…" Iruka managed to get out before he fell on the floor.

Naruto snarled, when he heard Mizuki laugh. He continued to smile though, as he walked passed Iruka, towards Mizuki. "If you EVER touch MY sensei AGAIN…I'LL KILL YOU."

"TRY IT NINE-TAILED FOX!" Mizuki grabbed his other giant shurikan and threw it at the kitsune.

Naruto started doing hand seals, his chakra flared. "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan.**" Suddnely a large root, the size of an Anaconda, exploded form the ground, in front of Naruto.

The shurikan that Mizuki threw was easily deflected. Mizuki was to stun to move. He large root hit the chunin in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. He was launched several feet back, being pushed with the root, and he was slammed into a tree.

Naruto turned back to Iruka. Suddenly a few ANBU landed around Naruto.

"Naruto…what are you doing? Why did you steal the scroll?"

Naruto sighed, but it was Iruka who answered. "It was because of Mizuki."

One of the ANBU nodded. He looked at the root that was holding Mizuki in place, it was slowly descending back into the soil, Mizuki was let go and fell helplessly to the earth. 'Mokuton…hmmm…did Naruto?' He turned back to Naruto. "The Hokage wants to see you." He turned back to his three companions. "You three, take Iruka to the hospital and take Mizuki to Ibiki." The other ANBU nodded. The captain went and picked up the scroll. "I'm sure the Hokage will want to see you Naruto…"

Naruto nodded, "…and I want to see him to Yamato-san."

Yamato nodded and grabbed the boy and preformed a **Shunshin** **no jutsu (Body Flicker technique)**.

---Hokage tower---

Naruto and Yamato just arrived at the kage tower, in the Hokage's private offer. "Yamato-san...while I speak to Naruto-kun... please go call of the search."

Yamato nodded, "Yes Hokage-sama...but there is something that you should know-" Yamato started, but the Hokage just held up his hand.

"I know about Naruto-kuns Mokuton ability..."

Yamato nodded and poofed out of the room.

The Hokage looked at the smiling boy in front of him. "Have a seat please." Gesturing to the seat in front of his desk.

Naruto nodded and walked over to the seat.

"Mokuton skills...pretty rare-"

"Cut the bullshit...you know why I'm here..." Naruto interrupted the kage in a sing-song voice.

The kage slightly grimaced, 'Arashi...I'm so sorry...I couldn't protect him after all...', "Simply put...the Kyuubi couldn't be killed...The Yondaime...was forced to seal him...they couldn't seal him inside of an inanimate object or a grown adult...he was forced to do so inside of a child."

Naruto nodded in understanding... "Why me?"

Sarutobi grimaced...knowing he was going to hate this part. Sarutobi nodded and went to hit safe, at the corner of his office. He opened it and pulled out to envelopes. He threw one to Naruto and set the other on his desk.

Naruto opened it and read the letter inside of it.

_Dear Naruto,_

_ Hello my son. I first want to say that I'm sorry...I know that I'm placing a heavy burden on you...being the jailor for one of the most powerful beings in existance...I know for a fact that you will never live a normal life. Please understand that I had little choice. I Kyuubi is coming closer and closer to our beloved village...if I don't do something to stop him...we all would die...I know that in the end...that you would prefer me to seal him in your body...and you would like me to seal it in your sister's-_

Naruto's eyes widened. He looked up at the Kage for a second.

_-I hope your looking after her...she may just be seven minutes you junior...but it still means that she is your little sister. You better be being a good big brother._

_If you haven't guessed yet...your old man is the Hokage...The fourth to be exact...Because of this I expect you to become much stronger than I was...and you BETTER BECOME STRONGER._

_Anyway...I just want to say I'm sorry...for everything that I'm most likely missing out on...birthdays...graduations...the first time you held a kunai. The only thing that eases my mind is the fact that I'm leaving you in this village. I know that you'll be treated like the HERO that you ARE! I hope they aren't spoiling to much...You better NOT be a brat..._

_ I'm sorry Naruto but I can't write anymore...I Kyuubi is coming closer and I have to leave or it will be to late._

_ Remember that I love you so much_

_ Your Father, Arashi Kazama._

_  
P.S. Please don't become a pervert._

Naruto felt something that he hadn't felt in a long time, or at least hadn't let it show through his face...anger...He quickly ripped the paper to shreds.

The Hokage just watched with sympathy...

Naruto slammed his hands on the desk, "A HERO! THE SON OF THE FOURTH! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS BEFORE..."

"Your father had a lot of enemys...it was best that your true name be kept secret...Uzamaki is actually the name of an ancient clan that died out a long time ago. Not many know of it so I thought it the perfect surname."

Naruto seethed, "These bastards...why don't they see me as a hero...like the fourth wanted?"

Sarutobi frowned, "People have hard times dealing with their grief...sometimes it turns into anger...In this case it turned into anger against a child who in fact save the village...maybe the world."

Naruto was still seething, "Why wasn't I told that I had a sister..."

Sarutobi frowned. The third handed him the other envelope. When he opened it...he noted that the letter had multiple tear stains on it.

_Dear Naruto,_

_ I want to say...that I'm sorry...I'm so-so-so sorry...I can't begin to express my sorrow...your father is a silly idealist...I, on the other hand, am a realist...I know that the people won't see you as anything but the Kyuubi incarnate..._

_Arashi just condemned you to a life of hatred...but I didn't want to damn my other child to such a punishment...So I've decided to send her away...what you don't know about me is that I was the daughter of a Lord of Fire country...I'm hoping that under my father's and mother's care, she'll grow up to become a strong ninja..._

_ I'm hoping that you'll become strong to...Your probably wondering why I'm not dare holding your hand through your whole ordeal...because of the constant skirmishes with the Kyuubi...I wasn't receiving the best of care at the hospital...I contracted a deadly disease during childbirth that effects pregnant woman...unfortunately at the time the only woman who could help me was months away from Konahagakure. I made this decsion at my last moments...I honestly don't know what else to tell you...I never thought that I'd be damning one of my own children to save another...  
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_I'm sorry...my dear Naruto..._

_ Your loving mother..._

_ Kizuna Ryuu  
_

Naruto just ripped the letter apart as well. Anger welling up in his eyes.

"She was suppose to come back this year...to become a genin...but she was held back by her grandfather...he wanted her to finish learning the Ryuu clans style of fighting before she left...supposedly she'll come within a year..."

Naruto smiled and looked straight at the Kage... "I hate you...you know that right...I hate you...my father...my mother...my sister...my grandparents...and this whole DAMN village!...for all I care you can all BURN IN HELL!"

Sarutobi felt like he was hit in the heart by a rusty dagger...He thought for a long time... "Naruto...I have a deal for you..."

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**A/N: I had this idea in my head for a while. BTW Any of you who are fans of Chronicles of Tsukigakure...don't worry i haven't given up on that story...I just wanted too start something new...I may try another chapter or two before I update Chronicles...but i WILL update...just please bare with me...**

**If your wondering about that sword that was in this chapter...it's meaning will be decided by the pairing i choose. **

**Pairings...(probably won't have to much to do with the story(like my other story)...)**

** Pairings will MOST LIKELY BE**

**Sasuke-Sakura (Because my opinion about these two changes constantly...but are usually pretty synched)**

**Neji-Tenten (Because i think they look cute)**

**Shikamaru-Temari (Same as above)**

**Chouji-Ino (Because i know crap about her and fat guys need love to)**

**and Naruto...(I have three ideas for him) (not doing a harem)  
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** Naruto-Hinata (Because its One of my favorite pairings...but i read so many of them...that it's kinda getting boring...so right now the least likely...if not with Naruto...she'll probably be placed with Kiba)**

**Naruto-Female Haku (Because Haku SHOULD have been a girl...he looks and talks like one...anyway i think this pairing is pretty cute as well...don't see many of them around)**

** Naruto-OC (I've read a few Naruto-OC stories and i kind of liked them...if i do an OC...i will NOT make her a Mary-Sue...i've read reviews about Naruto having an OC girlfriends that is a Mary Sue...not many of them are any good (the reviews i mean))**

** Anyway...i MAY do a poll to help me decide...but i will NOT start it now...IF i do start a poll...i won't include votes from chapters that come before i start the poll. Please keep that in mind...i hope i don't offend anyone.)**

** Anyway...if you liked it...hated it...hate me...or just want to flame me with _Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu)..._Please review._  
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	2. Deals and Dreams

**Disclaimor: Don't own Naruto.**

** A/N: Got many opinions for pairings...though I'm not going to be counting these as votes (if i hold a poll) I do appreciate the opinions.**

**Anyway...hope you enjoy this update...short but sweet.  
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**Chapter 2: Deals and Dreams.**

"Alright! See ya later bro!" said an excited Konahamaru as he ran off.

Naruto just nodded in goodbye. Konahamaru had been bugging Naruto to teach him some ninja skills for a while, since morning when he punched Konahamaru, even though he was warned that the younger boy was the grandson of the Third. Eventually Ebisu, Konahamaru's private trainer came and tried to pull the boy away from the young kitsune. Something about the whole situation pissed Naruto off, so he showed off his new jutsu. Luckily, for Naruto, the trio was conveniently close to the hotsprings…so Naruto used **Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan** to launch the special trainer into the woman's side of the hotsprings…the younger boys haven't heard from him since.

Naruto sighed and walked back to his apartment. Whenever he received a hard glare, he returned it with his wide smile, which seemed to piss off the person who was glaring at him.

When he returned to his apartment he noticed something upon the dirty counter. He walked over to find two small scrolls. There was a sticky note on top that read,

_To the New Mokuzaimusha, _

_From…wouldn't you like to know_?

He sighed, it was the Hokage or it was Yamato, at the moment Naruto didn't really care. He opened the first. "**Mokuton: Shichuka no Jutsu (Wood Release: Four Pillars House Technique)**" The idea of a new jutsu interested Naruto…but the fact that it was a NON-COMBAT jutsu made Naruto less enthusiastic. He opened the other one.

"Bunshin no Jutsu…" To say Naruto was pissed would be an understatement…it was just a Clone Technique scroll with dozens of notes over it. Naruto sighed but decided to worry about it later. He left to go to sleep. 

_---Early next morning---_

Naruto got up and got dressed in his usual outfit. He reached down to his secret compartment to pull out his newest treasure. Because of the complicated technique that he had learned during the Mizuki ordeal, the Hokage decided to promote Naruto to chunin. He didn't just receive a brand new hiaete like all the other kids either…he received one that belonged to his Iruka-sensei. Iruka had given it to him personally. It was now one of his greatest treasures. The second, and only other one, would be HER wakizashi…his very first friend…

_---Flashback 6 years ago---_

"_AHHH MONSTER!" A chibi Naruto latched onto the Hokage, burying his face into the Hokage's robes, shaking in fear. They were currently at a festival in another village, in fire country._

_Sarutobi chuckled a little bit, "It's not a monster Naruto-kun…it's just an animal…it won't hurt you…"_

_Naruto looked up at the kage for a moment before turning back to the 'monster.' It was a huge animal, large ears, and a huge nose._

"_That's an elephant…" The kage managed to pry the kitsune off of his before setting him on the ground; he then gave Naruto small nudges towards the great beast. "Go on…get a little bit closer."_

_Naruto surely but slowly started making his way to the animal. The Hokage, along with a few ANBU for protection, had taken Naruto to this place for his birthday…the third had been aware of the increasing abused that Naruto would receive at this time of year. So here they were, a week before the actual day, hoping Naruto would have a happy birthday for once._

_Naruto inched closer and closer to the caged animal. Suddenly it lifted it's head and blew air at it's trunk, making a loud noise in the process. This seemed to make Naruto's fears go away. "WOW!" he started jumping up and down. He turned back to the old man, "Did you see what he did? DID YOU SEE? DID YOU SEE?"_

_The aged kage chuckled at the young boys enthusiasm. 'When Konahamaru gets older…maybe I should bring him along.'_

_Naruto watched the animal for a while long before turning around and running back to the man. Unfortunately he ran straight into someone. Both of them fell to the ground. When Naruto opened his eyes he came face to face with a pair of crimson eyes. When he realized what happened he immediately jumped up._

"_MISTRESS!" Naruto heard a man call, and saw several figures men running towards the girl. Said girl was still on the ground. Her long silver hair framed her face perfectly. She had on an elegant blue kimono. She was about the same age as Naruto. She looked at him with a bit of fear in her eyes. One of her arms was in front of her, in a defensive manner, whilst she seemed to have the other hand fingering an object behind her…a wakizashi with a black and silver hilt. _

_---End Flashback---_

Naruto shook his head…now was not the time for silly flashbacks. He tied the Hiaete around his head and reached back into the compartment, pulling out the wakizashi…after thinking for a while he opted to attach the blade to his belt, on the back.

Afterwards he left heading for the academy.

_---Academy---_

Naruto sat down at his usual seat in the back of the room. He ignored the questions he was receiving, mostly things like…

"Dobe what are you doing here? You didn't pass!"

When he received those questions he merely pointed at his forehead protector, resisting the urge to flick these people off.

Iruka came into the classroom sometime later, bandaged up. "Alright everybody…I'll be announcing the teams now…your jounin-senseis will pick you up after lunch. We'll begin with team 1…"

_---Four hours later---_

Naruto was resisting the urge to go beserk…not only had he gotten on a team with THE UCHIHA and his number 1 fangirl…but their jounin-sensei was officially over two hours late to pick them up.

Sasuke was scowling…though, like Naruto, he was pissed…he'd never let it show openly. He had black hair and onyx eyes. His hiaete was wrapped around his head. He wore a blue shirt with the symbol of the Uchiha on it, and white shorts.

Sakura on the other hand was at the door, looking down the halls to see if their sensei would show up. She wore her Hiaete like a ribbon, to tie her long pink hair. He also wore a red ninja dress and black pants. Finally she went back to her seat and sat down, obviously tired of standing. About ten minutes later their sensei arrived.

Silver hair that seemed to defy gravity. A face mask. His hiaete covered his left eye. Other than that he was dressed as an ordinary jounin. "Yo!"

Sakura seethed, "YOUR LATE!"

Kakashi was reading a little orange book, and seemed to be…giggling? He looked up at his three students and said… "Meet me up on the roof." With that he poofed out of the classroom.

The trio walked out of the room and to the roof.

_---Roof…I wonder if Naruto can see his house from up there…hmmm---_

The newly appointed team 7 was currently sitting together on the roof. They waited for their sensei to speak.

"Alright you Pinky…" He said, obviously pointing at Sakura. "Give me your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future."

Sakura looked confused. "Sensei…could you go first, so I know exactly how its done."

Kakashi just stared for a second before nodding, "My name is Kakashi Hatake; my likes and dislikes…dreams for the future…I have many hobbies…"

The teens scowled… "Only learned your name," muttered Sakura indignantly. "My name is Sakura Haruno…My likes…" When she said that she shifted her eyes to Sasuke and started giggling to herself, "My hobbies…" Once again her eyes shifted to Sasuke and she started giggling again, "My dreams for the future…" Once again her eyes turned to Sasuke and this time she started squealing, "My dislikes are Ino-pig."

Sasuke felt an odd shiver creep through his spine every time she giggled…especially that last giggle that sounded more like a squeal.

Kakashi sighed, "Now you…the mental one…"

"My name is…" Their was a pause when Naruto and Sasuke both realized they were speaking at the same time…causing Kakashi to raise his eyebrow at the fact that neither of them complained about the name…but accepted it…

"I meant the brooding one…" That would be Sasuke…

Sasuke wasn't sure whether he should smirk, in triumph, for being the one that Kakashi was talking about…or for being insulted that he WAS the one Kakashi was talking about when he was labled the 'mental one'…but decided to speak anyway. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't have many likes and I dislike many things. My hobby is training. I don't have a dream for the future…it's more like an ambition. I want to KILL a certain man and resurrect my clan."

Sakura had stars in her eyes.

Kakashi sighed…again, "Now you…the eerily happy one…"

Naruto smile, if possibly, became twice as wide. "My name is Naruto Uzamaki…I like this village…I dislike anyone who would ever try to harm my beautiful village. My hobbies include spending time with all the wonderful people in Konahagakure." At this point he was standing up, pointing a finger to the sky, "My goal is to become the GREATEST HOKAGE…SO I CAN PROTECT EVERYONE!"

Sasuke and Sakura didn't catch it…But Kakashi was at the moment drowning in all the sarcasm that flooded out of Naruto's mouth…

'Shit! I knew I should've kept a closer eye on him…Arashi-sensei…why did you order Naruto to stay in the village…he would've led such a better life if he were allowed to leave…' Kakashi thought to himself with sorrow. He shook himself out of his thoughts, 'So I have a Fangirl, an Avenger, and Apathetic…' Giving Naruto the name of Apathetic do to his ability to hide his feelings within his perpetual smile, which was at the moment creeping him out. "Meet me in training field 19 at 7:00 am tomorrow…and don't eat breakfast…or you'll throw up."

Sakura beemed, "Are we going to do training tomorrow sensei?"

Kakashi eyes turned into upside down crescent moons, "Something like that…it's more of a…survival exam…to see if you have what it takes to become actual genins"

Sakura frowned, "But I thought we were already genins…"

"To be honest with you…only about one-third of this years crop will make it to actual genin. This exam is to weed out the losers." Kakashi stood up, "Those who fail will be sent back to the academy." This caused a reaction from all the students. With that he poofed away in a puff of smoke. The three genin-wannabees quickly filed out of the roof and went on their own way.

_---Naruto's house---_

Naruto sighed when he got home…he didn't know what possessed him to lie when he was introducing himself…In truth his only dream was to achieve the rank of chunin…

_---Flashback---_

"_Naruto…you want to leave the village don't you?"_

_Naruto merely nodded_

"_I'll make you a deal…I have two students who were granted the right to leave the village whenever they want…I'll grant you the same right if you achieve the rank of chunin…"_

_Naruto thought about it for a while… "How do I know the village council will even give me the rank…"_

_Sarutobi shook his head, "You don't need to worry about them…It will be the feudal lords of Fire Country, or whatever country your in at the time, that will decide whether you deserve the rank."_

_Naruto thought about this for a while…leaving the village…and never coming back…_

"_You will of course NOT attack or endanger the village or villagers while your off traveling…unless your only protecting yourself…and…should she not come to hidden leaf before you achieve chunin rank…I'll tell you where you can find your sister…"_

_Naruto thought about it…the more he thought about it…the more he liked the idea…he'd have to fight for the village for a while…but it would only be a short time, hopefully. Naruto nodded._

_Sarutobi smiled, though he wanted to frown. "Good…I'll prepare the paper work and call you when it's ready…I'm also passing you…for learning such a jutsu."_

_Naruto nodded and left his office._

_Sarutobi sighed and pulled out a bottle of sake… "This should've gone better…"_

_---End Flashback---_

Naruto sighed and decided to start practicing the two jutsu scrolls he received.

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**A/N: **** I've decided...Even if I don't do a Naruto/Haku or Naruto/OC...I WILL be including them in this fic...WHY? Because there aren't enough girls (Naruto's age) in Konahagakure(at least not important character-wise) AND Naruto could use more friends...even if they aren't love interest...also I wanted to ask about Rin(Kakashi's teammate)? Does anyone know what the hell happens to her? If no one can tell me what happens to her...chances are she'll be making an appearance as well. Hope somone can answer my question.**

** Anway...please press the pretty blue button and leave a REVIEW.**


	3. Genin Exams and more Dreams

**Disclaimor: Don****'t own Naruto **

** A/N: Gonna try something new and reply to reviews personally...**

**QundraDraconum: I'm glad you enjoy the fic...my only problem with Naru/Hina...is that Hinata fell for Naruto because he was loud and never gave up...Naruto in this story is NOT loud...he doesn't really care...and though he does always smile...it's the type of smile that will scare the shit out of Hinata...If I can find a way beyond that...mayb I can make it work...BTW...I appreciate the compliments...**

**korrd:**** The thing you said about Rin...is pretty much what i knew unfortunately...doesn't directly say...hmmm...maybe i'll say what the hell and add her in...**

** M.A.T898:**** Thanks for the compliment**

**Coheed 16**** Glad you like that.**

**silberstreif: ** **I've been wanting to say this to you since I read your review...you don't know how on the money you are...except for ONE THING...about Naruto's sister being weak...remember that she will be under PRIVATE tutors...(she won't be uber strong either)...as for the girl in the flash back...she's not Naruto's sister, she's the OC (actually...Naruto's sister is an OC...she's the one I was saying about a possible romantic interest...) ...I think that's all i wanted to say...**

**jaden**** Thanks for the compliment**

** Shinobi's Fire: Thanks for the compliment...the fic won't center around Romance...but it won't be devoid of it either...**

**NotImportant:**** I apologize for confusing you...After the fight with Mizuki...Iruka never promoted Naruto (Like he does in the show) The ANBU came in before anything could happen...The Hokage was Promoting Naruto to GENIN NOT CHUNIN. sorry for the confusion.**

**H3AvY D33:**** I was going to reply to you...but I couldn't find anything to say to you...I don't know pairing yet...I know the other question you asked...but telling you will be spoiling the story...and i'm to much of an ass to do that...**

**Shun One: Thanks for the compliment...** **as for Rin...yea that's pretty much what i knew about her...which is why i'm thinking of adding her into the story...**

**Xurtan**** Thanks for the info...i hope your enjoying the story...**

**cbsnes: I thought the same thing about the last chapter...(not alot of development...) I'm afraid to say it's not much different in this chapter...(One of the reasons for the fast update...) I hope to change that in the next chapter... As for why he would be interested in knowing where she is...call it...foxy curiousity...sorrow and loneliness...homocidal intentions...i'll let you imagine what he was thinking at the time.  
**

**teen13**** Thanks**

**: I agree.**

**packjack: Thanks for the compliment**

**Don't expect anything.Then you are never disappointed.:**** Once again...pretty much what I knew about her...thanks for the review...**

**I only answered reviews for chapter 2...I appreciate every review i got...and i hope i answered you questions... **

**Warning: This chapter isn't as dark as I hoped it would be...so I added some of my twisted humor...You've been warned... **

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Chapter 3: Genin Exams and more Dreams**

_**All was deafly quiet in the large battlefield. A full moon was the only source of light in the whole twilight. Dismembered body parts and blood lay everywhere. In the middle of the chaos was a boy. He was on a large wooden pole…chained down, the tight metal cutting into his body. His blonde hair matted down with sweat, his blue eyes constantly crying.**_

_**Beside him stood a man. White robes with a flame like design, marking him as the Hokage of Konahagakure. He possessed blonde hair and blue eyes similar to the boy on the stake. He was holding the chains with one hand, every now and then yanking on them, causing the metal to tighten around the boy and causing the youth to yell out in pain.**_

_**The boy looked behind him to see the shadows of multiple people. Their red eyes were glaring holes into his face, and there maniacally laughing faces were starting to scare him.**_

"_**It is time Naruto…", said the Blonde man beside him, Naruto snapping his head towards him, wincing from the pain.**_

_**In the distance the boy saw what it was time for. A giant creature was running towards him. This creature had red fur, red slit-like eyes, and nine long tails…it was in the shape of a fox. 'The Kyuubi!', the boy realized to his horror.**_

_**He saw the man gesture to something over at his other side. The boy turned to see what it was. He saw a lovely woman, with beautiful platinum blonde hair and green eyes, holding an infant. Somehow…Naruto could tell that the baby was a girl. She could see the woman mouthing something… "Goodbye…Naruto…"**_

_**Naruto's eyes widened. He turned back to the beast before him. It was no more than a few meters away from him. Naruto turned back towards the man. The man looked at the boy with sympathy, "I'm sorry Naruto…"**_

_**Naruto's eyes widened in shock when he heard the beast roar. He turned just in time to see himself devoured by the large maw of the monster.**_

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Naruto threw himself out of his bed…He was panting and covered with sweat…

He took a few minutes to steady himself before reaching down and fingering his naval…the place where the beast was sealed…

He sighed and looked at the clock, it was almost time to go.

He got up and got dressed. As he was doing so, he nearly hurled at the sight of his orange jackets…unfortunately he couldn't buy anything else…no one would sell to him. He decided that cutting off the sleeves and the white collar would make the jacket look a little bit better…so that's what he did about a year ago.

Once dressed…he picked up the same wakizashi and Hiaete…putting both on…and left.

_---Training field 19---_

Naruto arrived, wearing the same eerie smile, which was easily fueled by pissed of villagers, at the training field. He noticed Sasuke was already there. Neither really acknowledged the other.

Naruto went to sit by a tree. Sasuke was leaning against another one.

About ten minutes later, right on time, Sakura showed up.

"HEY SASUKE! After training…would you like to go eat with me somewhere?"

"No…"

Sakura, defeated, went to go sit down next to her own tree.

The trio waited three hours before Kakashi decided to 'grace them with his presence'.

"YO!" Ignoring the scream from Sakura, and avoiding the kunai thrown by the 'Mental One-', the one with the eerie smile… "I'm glad your enthusiastic to begin Naruto…but please wait till I explain the rules", he said with a careless smile.

The blonde however, had a smile on his face that would make most well trained ninjas want to wet themselves…but not Kakashi.

"Ok…" He said as he placed a timer on a stump and pulled out two bells, "You have until noon to get a bell from me. Those who get a bell will be the ones who stay…anyone who doesn't receive a bell will be sent back to the academy…Oh! And if you don't come at me with the intent to kill…you won't get the bell." He said in a nonchalant manner.

The trio tensed at this revelation. Sakura was the one that spoke… "Wait! So only two of us will pass?"

Kakashi smiled, "Of course not…Only two of you has the chance to pass…if none of you get a bell from me by the time the alarm rings…all of you go back to the academy…"

"I might get separated from Sasuke-kun!" Thought a distressed Sakura…

"What the hell is the point of putting us in three man teams then! If they're just going to separate us! Damn it…I can't be sent back to the Academy…Not if I'm ever going to kill THAT man!" Thought an irritated Sasuke.

Sakura's eyes widened at this. Naruto looked odd… "Wait…so this test is pretty much only weeding out the weaklings…" Kakashi nodded, Naruto was stunned, "Then…why…", Naruto started to say…but voiced out his question in his head, 'Why the hell did they put us into teams…they could've just done this at the academy…why would they waste the time in putting us in balanced teams…"

Kakashi noticed the blonde's confusion and grinned inside, 'Is he figuring it out?' He decided to have some fun though, "The clock is ticking."

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when Kakashi said this. The teens quickly jumped from the field, and into the trees. Naruto noticed, from his hiding spot up in the trees, that Kakashi hadn't moved an inch. He decided to make the first move.

Naruto jumped out of his hiding spot and into the field. Kakashi noticed him, "You know…you're a little bit…weird…"

Naruto smirked, "You can't stop me! I'm going to become Hokage!"

Kakashi smiled and reached into his pockets, he pulled out his orange book and started reading. "Go ahead…"

Naruto ran at the Kakashi, screaming his head off, fist raised ready to punch.

Kakashi was only half watching Naruto for about a second when he noticed something odd…he looked up to see the blonde still running at him, 'Minus one point for not jumping closer…' He tried to figure out what was wrong, whilst drowning out the blondes yells, Kakashi's eyes suddenly widened, 'Footsteps! He doesn't have any footsteps! **Bunshin no Jutsu**?" 'Naruto' jumped at Kakashi, the boys body fading through the adults. Kakashi then saw what was behind the boy, a large root, coming straight at him.

The large root slammed into Kakashi's chest and slammed him into a tree. Naruto smirked from his hiding place. However when he saw Kakashi turn into a log, he seethed on the inside, didn't let it show in his face.

Sasuke was surprised… 'When did that Dobe get that move?'

Kakashi stood somewhere in the trees. 'So I guess the rumors are true…he can use Mokuton jutsu…' He turned towards the log that got slammed by the root. That could've been painful…good thing I used **Kawarimi** in time…good distraction though…perfect execution…I'll give him back his point'

Kakashi looked down and saw Sakura hiding in the bushes. Lets see just how good she is.

Sakura was a little on edge. She just saw a giant root almost impale her sensei…and Naruto preformed a **Bunshin**. 'How could he have learned that technique…he just failed doing it a few days ago!'

"Sakura…", said a wounded voice…

'Sasuke-kun!' Sakura quickly started crawling towards the voice. After she exited the bushes…she saw something that made her heart stop. Sasuke was there, impaled with kunai and shurikan. He was bleeding.

"Sakura-chan…"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!", screamed the girl before passing out.

Up in the trees, "Hmmm…maybe that was a little to far…Oh well…can't do anything about it now." He jumped back into the clearing; book in hand. Suddenly he heard something coming from behind him. Shurikans. Kakashi quickly sidestepped them. However…the shurikan cut a string that was behind Kakashi, triggering a trap. A giant log was launched from the trees, going straight at the jounin. He quickly sidestepped it as well. He turned around just in time to see Sasuke throw a punch, which was blocked. Sasuke then did a backflip, kicking Kakashi at the same time, which was also block. Using this opportunity, Sasuke made a grab for the bells, Kakashi quickly jumped back though. 'He's stronger than the others…if I try reading Icha Icha Paradise…he may actually get a bell.'

"Damn it! So close!" Sasuke started doing handseals. "**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)**" Sasuke breathed out a fireball, scorching the area that Kakashi was in. When he was finished…he noticed that where the jounin stood…was a burnt log. "Damn it."

Suddenly a hand grabbed on of Sasuke's legs and pulled him under. He was pulled until he was buried up to his neck.

Kakashi appeared before him.

Naruto watched this from his hiding spot… 'Hmm…I wonder…'

Kakashi walked away from Sasuke and jumped into the trees. The Uchiha seething. Suddenly Sakura ran into the training field. She immediately noticed Sasuke…or 'Sasuke's dismembered head'. 'The head' blinked a few times at the girl. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

From his spot in the forest, 'What the hell is she screaming about this time?'

About thirty minutes later Sasuke managed to dig himself out. Just in time for Sakura to wake up. "Sasuke-kun! Your alright!"

"I'm far from alright…I was so close to getting a bell…damn it…" Sasuke said as he jumped into the trees.

"Wait! Sasuke-kun!" She was about to jump after him…when she spotted something shining in the corner. "Is that a bell? He must've dropped it!" Sakura ran to get the bell. However she was suddenly raised high into the air, when her foot was caught in a rope. "AAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Sakura…if it's obviously a trap…don't pick anything up…" Kakashi said with a bored expression, as he picked up the bell. He looked back up at Sakura, "You must look underneath the underneath…" He said…unfortunately he didn't notice what was underneath HIM. A sapling was making itself out of the ground from underneath him…it quickly started wrapping itself around his legs and pulled the jounin under…

"How's that for looking underneath the underneath…" Kakashi heard a certain fox boy say from the forest…

"Ok…it's all fun and games until someone starts RIPPING OFF MY TECHNIQUES!" With that Kakashi puffed away in smoke.

'A clone?' Thought a discouraged blonde.

Suddenly the alarm rang. 'Damn it!'

The trio ran off, after Kakashi used a kunai to release Sakura from the trap.

He quickly tied Sakura to a poll, ignoring Naruto muttering something about S&M pervert.

"I'm proud to say that none of you will be going back to the academy…" the youngsters smiled at this, "…instead your going to be dropped from the ninja program…"

"WHAT!", screamed Sakura. The other two looked about ready to scream, though you couldn't really tell with Naruto…

"You don't have what it takes to become ninja…Tell me…what is the point of being put in a three man squad…"

Naruto answered, "Team work…"

Sasuke's eyes widened, "The bells were meant to throw us off…"

"Exactly! Sasuke…you think the other two will hold you back…so you don't bother working with them; Sakura…your to busy worrying about Sasuke to think about anything else; and Naruto…you don't even care enough to ask your teammates to help" "In the ninja world…those who break the rules are scum…but those who abandon their teammates are worse and scum…" He went to a slab of stone on the ground. "This stone contains the names of the ninja of Konahagakure…the ones that fell in battle…" Kakashi lowered his head for a moment… "I'm going to give you one last shot…You two can eat the lunches I brought", pointing to Sasuke and Naruto, "But Sakura doesn't get any…if either of you feed her…you fail. I make the rules…remember that…" With that Kakashi disappeared.

Naruto and Sasuke each opened a bento…they paused when they heard Sakura's stomach growl…they both sighed and held up the bento for her… "What?" She asked…

"Just eat something…we're going t need you to help…and your going to need to be at full strength…", Sasuke…

"Just need you to be at full strength…until we pass this exam…", Naruto…

Sakura started tearing up… "Sasuke-kun…Naruto…"

Suddenly the three heard an explosion appear in front of them, "WHAT DID I TELL YOU! I TOLD YOU NOT TO FEED HER!"

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit but he spoke first, with a smirk, "Since we disobeyed your rules…it means that we are scum…"

Naruto spoke next…with his perpetual smile, "…But those who abandon their teammates…are worse than scum…"

Sakura, still teary, found courage as her teammates spoke… "…We're a team! We help each other out…"

Lightning start flashing across the sky, and dark clouds started spreading…but just as quickly they all disappeared to reveal the sunny sky, "You all pass…"

The boys smirked…Sakura was on the brink of tears…

"Team 7 begins its first mission tomorrow…"

_---Naruto's apartment---_

Naruto arrived home and quickly went to bed…it was a long day…after the genin exam…they were forced into so many things, via Kakashi…

In his dreams…

Naruto found himself in a damp sewer…walking…just walking…This sewer was like a labyrinth…it seems like he'd been walking for hours. He eventually came upon a giant door. They opened for him, as if they were waiting for him, and he made his way through…

_He found a gigantic jail cell, with a paper with the kanji for 'seal' on it._

"_**Come closer child…"** Naruto did as commanded…he saw through the bars and pair of red slit-like eyes…and sharp pointy teeth…Suddenly a clawed paw went through the bars, stopping only an inch from the boys face, Naruto didn't move an inch. **"I like you brat…" **said the beast with a…foxy smile…_

_Naruto smiled back at him, "I wish I could say the feeling was reciprocated…where the hell's the exit?"_

"_**Wait! Don't you want to know who I am?"**_

_Naruto for the first time in a while, wasn't smiling, instead he had a look of pure uninterest and boredom. "Duhhh…how many other Evil Demons are living, for free, in my stomach…"_

"_**Evil! I resent that!"**_

"…_You killed hundreds of people…"_

"…_**thousands…" **muttered the demon._

"_Huh?"_

_**"Nothing! You humans…everything is black and white to you…you never bother to get MY opinion…My side of the story!"**_

"_Where's the exit…"_

"_**Don't you even care? This involves you, just as much as it involves me!"**_

_"Your not going to tell me how to get out of here until I hear your story…are you?"_

_**"No…" **_

_"Then speak…"_

"_**Better…I'll show you…"** He said gesturing the wall on Naruto's right…It started to flash a bit then showed a picture, like a movie theatre screen._

_It was a bright sunny day…birds were chirping…deer were playing…but who cares…_

_In a wide open field lied the Kyuubi…The Fox was on his back…being fed grapes, which proportion-wise…were way to small to be of any use, by a few beautiful woman wearing Kimonos…There were a lot more woman on his chest, nuzzling and cuddling up to the Demon King. Some of the woman were only in their underwear, whislt pressing up against the demon. They were muttering stuff like, "Oh Kyuubi-sama…I want to have your children…" And a variety of other related topics._

_The scene went on for a while long when suddenly a man walked up to Kyuubi, and the woman… "Oh Great Kyuubi no Kitsune…Please sacrifice me in your honor…" He started bowing._

"_**Yes…if it is your wish I will sacrifice you…"** said the Kyuubi…the man started dancing in happiness…Kyuubi raised one of his tails, touch the man with it…the man burst into flames._

_The girls started cheering, muttering phrases like, "Oh! How lucky…" and "Oh! Noble Lord Kyuubi…"_

_Seeing the Kyuubi's 'Noble' act…caused people to start flocking from the nearby village, Konahagakure…_

_Many people ask for the same thing the man asked of Kyuubi and many more people burst into flames. Their were still hundreds of people waiting for Kyuubi's 'blessing', when suddenly._

"_THAT IS ENOUGH!" Everyone turned, in horror, to see 'him'… He had wild blonde hair…Evil blue eyes…was wearing a black robes. "THE SACRAFICES WILL STOP!" Said the man as he slammed his foot to the ground, creating a mild earth quake which knock some of the villagers down._

_One, a woman waiting to be 'sacrificed', went up to the man… "But…Lord Hokage…please for once be reasonable…"_

_The Hokage was about to reply when he noticed something. A fly was buzzing around his head. He opened his mouth, and a tongue launched itself from the opening…grabbing the fly…then retreating back…the Hokage then chewed and swallowed, much to the peoples horror…he then looked at the woman and back-handed her… "THE SACRAFICES WILL STOP **TODAY**! MY WORD IS **LAW**! FOR I AM…" He got into a very silly stance "…**THE FOURTH HOKAGE**!" He pointed to the people waiting for be sacrificed. "RETURN HOME AND GET READY…TODAY IS THE DAY THAT THE KYUUBI DIES…" The people gasped…_

_The girls that were on top of the beast started crying, "Lord Hokage…please…"_

"_SHUT UP! GO HOME AND TELL YOUR FATHERS THAT YOU NEED TO BE **BEATEN**! AND THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NINJA, HAVE **FIVE MINUTES** TO BE BACK OUT HERE IN **FULL** UNIFORM!"_

_With that the girls got off of the monster and left…crying their eyes out…_

_**"Arashi…I can understand why you would be upset…if it upsets you so much…I will happily leave Konahagakure…and never return…"**_

"_ABSOLUTELY NOT! TODAY YOU WILL DIE" With that the Yellow Flash…umm…flashed away…yea__…_

"_LORD KYUUBI" cried the remaining people as they jumped on the giant demon, hugging him. The Kyuubi returned the hug._

"_**This cannot be…I will allow myself to die…so you all may live."**_

"NO LORD KYUUBI." Chorused the crowd. "Please destroy our whole village in your name…"

"…_**As you wish…"**_

The battle raged on for hours…Kyuubi 'nobly' killing the people who came against it…No one could kill the Kyuubi…it was just to powerful…Until finally Arashi got an idea… "I'll use Shiki Fūin to seal the Kyuubi within a small child…Since I'm such an ass…I'll use my own little boy…" mused the kage…

Sarutobi looked worried, "But Arashi-kun…couldn't we just use Shiki Fūin…without the needless sacrifice?"

"_Yes…but then it wouldn't be any fun…" He said as he grabbed his baby boy… "YOU!" pointing to all the people, "ARE TO HATE THIS BOY AND TREAT HIM LIKE CRAP! I will sacrifice myself nobly and forever remain cool…" The ninjas sadly nodded…_

_So it happened…the Kyuubi was sealed inside of the crying baby boy…the Yondaime died…_

_The screen faded… **"And that's pretty much what happened…"** _

_Naruto turned to the Kyuubi, he still looked uninterested…now he had a raised eyebrow…_

_"**What! That's what happened!"** _

_"I'll find my own way out…maybe if I'm lucky I'll get lost and die…" _

**_"Wait! Alright…Maybe I exaggerated a little…" _**

_"A little…" _

_"__**Anyway…"** Ignoring his accusation… **"I brought you here to speak to you…I'm here to help you…"**_

_"How could you possibly benefit me…" _

**_"I have knowledge…I was originally just waiting around for you to die, so I can finally be free to go to the afterlife…but after you gained that wood trick…I figured this might be more fun…"_**

_"__Why should I trust you…"_

_**"That's for you to figure out…now do you want to talk?"** _

_Naruto thought for a moment… "I'll listen…" 'With the exception of the third and Iruka…this guy is the only one who's every treated me nice…disregarding the fact that I've only known him for about five minutes…it still may be interesting to listen to him…"_

"_**Well…"**_

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**A/N: I hope the next chapter will be better...it will most likely take me a while to get it up though...but i WILL update...**

**Please REVIEW!**_**  
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	4. Journey to Wave!

**Disclaimor: Don't own Naruto.**

** A/N: Hello everyone...hope you enjoy this chapter...though I like it a lot more than my most recent chapters...I'm not proud of it (couldn't find a way to improve it without taking away from the story that I had planned) and I'll explain WHY at the bottom notes...**

** Ok...Someone mentioned that replying to reviews (Like i did in the last chapter) was against the rules and could get my story deleted...Untill I can get a confirmation on wheter or not that is true...I won't be replying directly.**

** Now...it seems that all of you enjoyed my last chapter...it seems that all of you enjoyed Kyuubis story (I even managed to convince someone that THAT'S what really happened...hmmm maybe it did...now i'm confused...)  
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**I have a Sakura-related poll at the bottom...please vote.  
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** Please enjoy the chapter.  
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Chapter 4: Journey to Wave!**

In the vast forest of Konahagakure stood a cat…not just any cat…this cat belonged to the wife of one of the most important lords of Fire country. It had run away, for the third time this for the fourth time this week…and it was only Thursday…Every now and then…the cat HAD to get away from that crazy hugging lady…and recently…for one reason or another…security had been ignoring the fleeing animal…causing the woman to hire nins from Konahagakure to find it…The cat didn't mind though…it received a few hours of peace and quiet…a ninja team would show up to 'rescue' it…then it would return home for a nice meal…and a warm bed…

Most recently, the ones coming to pick up the cat recently consisted of this pretty pink haired girl, who loved to cuddle him against her chest, something that he didn't mind; a brooding boy, who looked like he had a stick up his ass; and some idiot that never stops smiling…

The cat yawned as he lay on the forest floor. That's when it happened. He heard something jump out of the trees behind him. He quickly jumped to his feet, turning around, to see a large root coming at him. The cat's eyes widened as he turned to run away…it didn't get far.

The root wrapped itself around the cat, holding on to him by the back legs and tail, and lifted it up. The cat hissed and scratched at the peace of wood that was holding it. But nothing it did would make the appendage let him go. Finally the cat noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He stops fighting, letting himself just hang, and sees the 'idiot that never stops smiling'. The boy was wearing an orange, sleeveless jacket, that was left opened, showing his black shirt; orange pants, a blade strapped to his back, and an odd object on his right wrist that looks like a Christmas reef, with leaves shaped like regular leaves instead of being shaped like needles.

That cat noticed the wide smile on the boy's face, and cringed. Finally the cat noticed something that almost made him wet himself, a kunai was in the boy's left hand… "Meow?"

He can hear the boy snickering to himself as he slowly raises the kunai.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto sighs and puts away his kunai, just as a pink blur comes in and snatches the cat from the root. The cat clutches onto Sakura, holding onto her for dear life, inadvertently clawing the poor girl. "Naruto what the hell do you think your doing? This is an innocent animal…"

The innocent animal, which had his head buried in Sakura's chest, took a second to look up at the boy. The smile he was receiving NEARLY caused him to soil himself, and Sakura…

"Hn…" Sasuke exits the forest, meeting the other two, three if you count the cat, in the clearing.

Sakura, being the only one wearing a headset, decides to report in. "We found the cat Kakashi-sensei…we're coming back."

They were answered with a perverted giggle.

Sakura growled and walked off.

Naruto was about to walk off as well, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him… "Next time we have to find that stupid cat…I'll stall Sakura…while you 'CHECK' whether it's still alive." Sasuke said with a smirk.

Naruto's smile widened

_---Hokage tower---_

"OH MY PRECIOUS KITTY!" The lord's wife clutched onto the cat as hard as she could. Oddly enough…the cat seemed to be hugging her back…weird…

The lady left, leaving team 7 alone with the mission assignment committee…

The Hokage, Iruka, a few other teachers that Naruto didn't bother remembering, and a few ANBU.

"Good job on once again retrieving the cat…lets see…another mission…farming potatoes…babysitting the lord's grandson-" The Hokage started…

"NO! NO! NO!" Screamed the pink hair ninja… This caused the Hokage to pause and look up at her… "We've had enough of these stupid missions! Can't you for once give us something decent to do?"

Sasuke and Naruto both nodded.

Kakashi mentally groaned… 'They were bound to complain sooner or later…'

Iruka stood up, slamming his hands to the table, "That's enough out of you-" A gesture from the Third stopped him.

The Hokage sighed… "I think I need to explain the mission rankings once again…You see there are five types of mission rankings-"

The Hokage started speaking about the mission rankings…but he was, unknowingly, ignored.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei…what's the big deal about that book your always reading?", asked Sakura…

Kakashi went into a long, DETAILED, explanation on why the Icha Icha series are works of genius…After the Hokage was done explaining about mission rankings…is about the time he noticed that no one was listening to him…

"HEY! Are any of you listening to me…"

Kakashi looked up from Sakura and Sasuke's stunned faces… "I'm sorry…were you saying something…"

The Hokage growled slightly…

"Hey old man…" The Hokage looked up to see Naruto, "Would you just give us a decent mission…I need a chance to test how far I've come before the exams…" The Hokage resisted the urge to frown…the truth was Naruto wanted to train so he can gain the rank of chunin…so he could leave. The Third, inadvertently, glanced at a picture of the Fourth, at the side of the room, which went unnoticed by everyone but Kakashi and Naruto, or perhaps the others just didn't see anything odd about it.

"Hmmm…I suppose something can be set up…"

"Hokage-sama!"

"We can't hold these children back forever Iruka…" Sarutobi gestured to an ANBU at the door. "Send in Tazuna…"

The ANBU nodded and left the room. He came back about a minute later with an old man. The old man stood right in front of the door.

"My name is Tazuna, the bridge builder, I expect you to protect me while I finish the bridge that will connect my country to the mainland." He took at moment to look at the ninja in front of him and frowned… "This is the team that will be protecting me? They don't look that tough to me…especially that short one with the stupid grin on his face-" He was cut off when a kunai a thrown kunai, implanted itself into the door…about half an inch under the man's crotch…causing all the men in the room to cringe slightly…

"NARUTO!" Yelled the pink haired kunoichi.

Naruto turned to her with a smile, "Don't know why you're yelling at me for…I'm pretty sure that's one of your kunai…"

Sakura's eyes widened as she went to check her kunai pouch, she was missing one… 'Son of a bitch…' "I swear you…sometimes you act like nothing more than a DEMON!" This caused all the adults to shutter.

Kakashi chose this moment to step in… "That's enough-"

"Maybe I am…" replied the Kitsune, cutting Kakashi off, smiling widely, as if he had just received the biggest compliment in the world.

The adults cringed again. Sakura cringed at the boy's smile…

"Meet at the west gate in an hour…", said the Hokage, holding his head…

Naruto made to leave. He reached the door, with the terrified bridge builder pressed to it…Naruto reached down and pulled the kunai out of the door, and flipped it over to Sakura, which she caught… "May I pass?"

Tazuna nodded, still scared shitless…He moved out of the way allowing Naruto to walk out the door, followed by the rest of team 7.

_---On the streets---_

Naruto was walking down the street with many thoughts running through his mind, though no one would be able to tell that. Naruto continued to walk down the village, feeling a slight pang of regret for scaring Tazuna… Though the old man did insult him…he shouldn't have lost his temper…it wasn't a thing that ninja should do, even if Naruto had no real desire to be a ninja…He sighed…the villagers treated him like a demon, so he didn't care what they thought about him…but he didn't want people outside of the village to start seeing him that way…it would make traveling pointless.

He decided to take a short cut, through a dark alley.

Naruto walked through the alley ignoring the five men that were stumbling down it.

One of the slightly bumped into Naruto…the boy went on his merry way, not even caring…the man however…

"HEY! WHAT…THE-HELLSSSSS YOOOUUUUSSS DOOOOIN' DEMOOOOON BAAASTARD" He was slurring his words…obviously drunk…Naruto ignored him.

"WHOO THE HELL DO YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE…" said one of the other men…though not slurring as badly…still obviously drunk. Naruto sighed…it was going to be one of those days. He slowly turned, in time to see the man who bumped into him throw a punch…he was slow, obviously just a civilian…Naruto opted to let himself be hit…like always…

Though he wasn't a ninja…he was still pretty strong…strong enough to knock Naruto off his feet. This seemed to trigger something in Naruto's mind…

He remembered every dirty look he ever received…

One of the men picked him up and slammed him against the wall…

Every time he received a beating seemed to flash through his eyes…

Another man kicked him while he was down…

He saw every time he was ever shunned away from the children his age…

He was lifted off the ground again, this time by his collar, this man pulled out a kunai…

He saw his father using him as a sacrifice…his mother leaving him to rot…his sister having a happy life, while he was stuck in this living hell…

Naruto anger flared, he kicked the man in the stomach. The man keeled over, clutching his stomach, dropping Naruto at the same time. The men glared at the boy and were about to charge.

That's when Naruto held out his right arm, the one with the strange plant wrapped around his wrist, pointing it at the man who first bumped into him… **"Hayashi Shuushuku (Forest Constriction).** The plant glowed green, before three vines extended from it. These vines were covered with leaves, thorns started to sprout from them as well. The vines wrapped themselves around the man's right arm, ensnaring it and slamming him against the wall, holding him three feet off the ground…

The drunken men could only stare at their friend, who was screaming at having the thorns pierce his arm…He tried to yank the plant off of him with his other hand…but only succeeded to have his hand pierced by the sharp objects… He continued to scream and thrash in pain as blood seeped down his right arm and left hand…

_---Flashback---_

_Naruto was currently standing in the Konahagakure forest. He had been looking for this plant for hours and he had finally found it… The **Tsuki Konaha (Moon Leaf)**. According to the Kyuubi this plant was very susceptible to chakra. The plant itself was had the potential to grow very tall…but it lacked the ability to absorb water and sunlight well…without the proper nutrients…it was nothing more than a plant with many leaves…a weed to many others…_

_A normal person's chakra wouldn't be able to affect the plant…but because Naruto's chakra was so potent, making him able to create and altar plants, he would be able to use this plant as a weapon very easily…_

_**"Just think about what'll happen if you mix it with MY chakra…"**_

_Naruto sighed when he heard the demon's voice in his head…a while ago the Kyuubi told him that he would be able to alter plants much more drastically by mixing in a little of his own chakra…The demon's chakra being much more potent than the boy's own, would altar the plant's into a much darker form…_

_So the demon offered Naruto some of its own chakra to use whenever the boy willed. It wasn't a lot, considering how strong the demon truly was. It was only about one-tenth of the boy's own amount of chakra…though it was considerable…taking into account the boy's large chakra supply…the demon probably still had about a hundred times more chakra than Naruto had._

_The problem was that, since Naruto was the jailor…they BOTH had to will the demonic chakra into Naruto's reserves, though it was still separate from Naruto's own chakra. That was when the Kyuubi fooled Naruto…he was able to open a link between the too…which allowed the Kyuubi to communicate with Naruto any time he desired._

_To say Naruto was pissed would be an understatement…_

_---End Flashback---_

The men continued to stare in horror before screaming and running off…

The ensnared man looked at the boy in front of him…his sweaty blonde locks were currently hiding his blue eyes…Finally the boy looked up at the man. Naruto smiled at the man… 'Nothing but Scum…all of them…' he thought to himself, thinking about the men that ran away leaving their 'friend'. His smile widened as he used his chakra to tighten the grip on the man's arm.

The man screamed loudly and Naruto smiled widerr… "So I guess about now, I'm pretty much the Lord 'Demon Bastard' of the whole world?"

The man sniffled a bit at the statement. He couldn't understand it… Naruto never fought back…he just let himself get beaten constantly…he never cried…he never looked upset…he never even lost that damn smile by the time he fainted the boy fainted from the pain…

Naruto watched the man cower for a bit longer… he was about to tighten the hold on the man…

Suddenly a few kunai came down and cut the vines…letting the man drop to the ground…

The pieces receded back into Naruto's Tsuki Konaha…becoming nothing but a normal looking leaf wristband.

"That's enough Naruto…"

"(coughcough) Though you were (cough) in the right to defend yourself (cough), you were taking it much to far…"

Naruto recognized both voices…one belonged to Genma Shiranui, the second to Gekko Hayate.

Naruto smiled at the two and walked away. He paused for a moment to look at the man, "Oh…and your drunk at 11:00 in the morning…have some damn self-control…" He exited the alley…

Genma stared off in the direction the boy left in, 'Wonder if I can pick up that smiling trick from him…seems to effectively freak the shit out of people…' Genma turned back to the man on the floor. He was clutching his wrist, with his bleeding hand, and was still crying in pain. 'He's already suffered enough, however I will tell the Hokage about the other four…that should be fun…' "I'll take this man to the hospital…" Genma walked over to the man, picked him up, and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Gekko looked off in the direction that Naruto came from, "(cough)", 'Wonder what'd she think about THIS Naruto…"

_---Flashback (continuation from chapter 2)---_

_The two children looked up at each other. One had golden hair with blue eyes. The other had silver hair with red eyes. The girl looked at the boy, still frightened slightly._

"_MISTRESS!"_

_Three men came from behind the girl, each of them pulling Katanas out and pointing them at the boy…_

_In an instant the Hokage, who had been watching the whole event, stood between Naruto and the armed men; a second later four ANBU stood behind the Hokage._

"_Oh calm down you three…" the voice came from an old man standing a small ways behind the three men and one girl. The old man had gray hair, no beard, and ceremonial blue robes on. He had four other armed men, though their katanas were sheathed, with him. "It was an honest mistake…"_

_Sarutobi smiled, "Yoko my friend…it's been far to long…"_

'_Yoko' blinked and then smiled, "Sarutobi! How are you doing old friend!"_

"_Fine…fine…" He turned to the little girl in front of him, "Is this Rei? She's grown since the last time I saw her."_

"_She sure has…"_

"_Yoko-sama, Rei-hime…" said one of the ANBU while bowing…_

_Yoko blinked again, "Is that you Gekko?"_

_The ANBU nodded._

"_Well then. How are you doing?"_

_Naruto watched the whole exchange take place. He was curious on how the Hokage knew this man…he was also curious on how Gekko knew this man…suddenly the back of his shirt was tugged and he was pulled backwards._

_He saw it was Yamato pulling him back, kneeling next to him…Since you're with us…you should probably know, "Yoko, Rei, Gekko, and these men" indicating the men that were with Yoko, and the ones who were with Rei, who finally sheathed their swords, "Belong to the Hayate clan…a clan that specializes in **Kenjutsu (Sword Technique)**. Though they live in Fire country…they don't belong to Konahagakure, or any other ninja village for that matter. However, a few of their warriors, like Gekko, leave home at a very Young age to become Ninja for Konahagakure…" He waited a moment for the information to settle into Naruto, "The Hayate clan live in another village, in fire country…Its one of the only clans that the Shodaime, the First Hokage, failed in uniting with others to create Konahagakure…Sarutobi has been trying to recruit them for years, and over the years he acquired a friendship with Yoko, the former clan head of the Hayate clan, and Kazuma, the current leader of the clan. Yoko is Kazuma's father…and Kazuma is Rei's father…" He again paused for a moment. "She's the second child of Kazuma…"_

_Naruto nodded and Yamato stood back up. Rei, who had finally gotten off the ground when her grandfather started speaking, walked over to Naruto. She stared at him for a while…She smiled widely at him. "Hi! My name is Rei…"_

"_My name is…Naruto…" replied the blonde…though it sound like more of a squeak…_

_Rei's smile widened, "I like your cheeks…the whisker marks make you look like a kitty…or maybe a fox…" said the little girl with a laugh, though her last statement made the adults, from Konaha, cringe slightly…though Naruto blushed...  
_

_---End Flashback---_

Gekko sighed; in truth he felt nothing but sympathy for the boy, as did a good portion of ninja. However the villagers and over half the ninjas in the village, felt that the boy was a plague…Gekko thought about what Naruto just did…he couldn't blame the boy…but he knew that things will become much harder for the fox child.

_---Kakashi's house---_

Kakahi exited his large house... He noticed an ANBU appear right in front of him. The ANBU, obviously a woman, had a Hawk mask."Hello Rin.", Kakashi said with a smile.

"Hello Kakashi...are you busy?"

"C-rank mission", was his only replied. C-rank missions meant leaving the village.

"Oh..." Rin took off her mask to reveal her slightly depressed green eyes and the red marks on her cheeks. Her brown hair fell to about her neck. "How's HE doing..."

Kakashi sighed, "I ask my self all the time if things would be different, if sensei was still alive..." Kakashi smiled, "Sometimes I wonder if he would've taken Naruto out of the village, when he saw the treatment the boy received...then WE'D be the ones to have the most powerful ninja against us...fools..."

Rin frowned, "If they knew the truth about his parents...he would probably be treated better...but then he'd have to deal with assassins all the time..."

Kakashi nodded, "Want to come visit the Stone of Heroes with me...Sensei and Obito may be getting lonely..."

Rin smiled and nodded.

_---Naruto's house---_

**"You should've added MY chakra to that…it would've worked better."**

Naruto ignored the question…he honestly didn't care…he knew that he got his point across to the man…though Naruto was curious on how the demon's chakra would effect the his wrist band…

_---Flashback---_

_Team 7 were training. Sakura was in one area, punching a dummy. Sasuke was over in another area practicing his Katon jutsus…Naruto was sitting in a meditative stance practicing his Mokuton jutsus…Sakura was secretly jealous of both boys…having each a special element…she inwardly thought about pursuing her own…specializing in her own jutsu…_

_Naruto, not noticing Kakashi creeping up behind him, released his hold on the plant that he was currently moving. He had been practicing directing the plants, using his chakra, for about an hour now…he decided to finally try out what the Kyuubi suggested…mutating plants…_

_He reached for that small storage of demonic chakra, that he possessed, and pulled on a bit of it. He mixed it with his own chakra, and did the necessary hand seals for **Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan.** _

_Like always the plant sprouted from the ground. This one was different though. First off, the size was amazing, considering that he didn't use too much of his own chakra… It was about the ten feet tall. Half a foot in diameter, except for the strange bud on it's on the top. It was an oval shape, about a foot in diameter. Finally, unlike its other plants, this plant was not brown or green…this one was a sickly pale purple color._

_Naruto, who was now standing, could only stare at the plant. Sakura and Sasuke were now looking at the demonic plant as well. Kakashi, who was holding his book and came to stand next to Naruto, was also staring at the thing before him._

"_**IDIOT! STOP GAWKING! DON'T LOSE CONTROL OF THAT THING!"**_

_Naruto was to late. The 'bud' opened to reveal huge sets of fangs. The plant before him looked like a snake, sans the eyes._

_It snapped its fangs opened and close a few times, as if to test them, before snapping in the direction of Naruto and Kakashi._

_Naruto quickly, and easily jumped away to a safe distance…however Kakashi's jounin skills made him a bit overconfident…_

_He jumped away about a second after Naruto did…what Kakashi didn't expect was for the Plant's jaws to close around his book, tearing the manuscript out of the jounin's hands…_

_The jounin landed right next to Naruto. The jounin clenched his fist together and growled…_

_The plant snapped his head up and back, throwing the book into the air, and catching it again in its opened maw._

_Kakashi's eyes widened…that was his limited edition issue of Icha Icha Paradise…the one signed by the author…_

_He sent a wave of killer intent at the plant, which seemed to freeze everyone in a mile radius…_

_Kakashi pulled out a kunai. He jumped at the plant, roaring a war cry as he went to go save his book…_

_---End Flashback---_

Kakashi tore the plant apart in search of his book…

He eventually found it…though it was completely covered in plant guts, which made it almost unreadable. So…after the funeral, to the book, which team 7 was FORCED to attend…Kakashi bought a new book.

The fox explained that the demonic plant, no longer being able to gain food from photosynthesis…was forced to find food in another method…eating…

After that incident, Naruto hadn't tried adding the demon's chakra to his technique again…though he secretly wondered what it would be like to use it on a certain Mokuton skill that he recently received…

Naruto finished packing and left his house…

_---West gate---_

Naruto noticed that Sakura and Tazuna were both their…He noticed Tazuna stiffen again…

He walked over to the man. "I wanted to apologize for losing my temper with you earlier…"

Tazuna, and Sakura, were both taken back by this… Tazuna nodded though, "It's alright…I probably shouldn't have provoked you…" Tazuna seemed to calm down significantly…

Naruto nodded and went to lean against the gate…

A few minutes later Sasuke showed up, ignoring Sakura who asked him for a date…

A few minutes after that, Kakashi showed up…

"Alright…lets go," said Kakashi.

_---On the road…again (Please don't flame me for that)---_

The group of five was on the road…again

Kakashi was reading. Sasuke was brooding. Sakura was thinking of a way to get Sasuke to go out with her. Tazuna was thinking. Naruto was still thinking about how Kyuubi's chakra would affect plants.

Tazuna and the children didn't even concern themselves with the puddle that was on the ground…but Kakashi did…it hadn't rained in weeks…

Once the group had passed the puddle, two figures rose out of it. Each had a clawed gauntlet; they were both attached with a chain.

They both lunged themselves at Kakashi, wrapping their sharp chains around the jounin. They then proceeded to rip him to pieces.

Sakura and Tazuna were horrified at what they saw. Naruto had his back turned to the whole event…he was busy staring off at something he thought he saw in the trees…

The demon brothers lunged themselves at Naruto…That was when Sasuke jumped into action…

He threw a shurikan the chain, catching one of the chain links and sticking it into a nearby tree. He then jumped into the air, hurling one of his kunai and the shurikan, to lock the chain in place.

He landed, with each foot on one of the gauntlets, and then punched both of the demon brothers.

The demon brothers then discarded their gauntlets…they rushed pass Naruto, who was still staring off into the forest, and lunged themselves at Tazuna and Sakura.

That's when Naruto decided to move. He did the hand seals for **Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan**, but called out a different attack, **"Mokuton Hijutsu: Shokubutsu Funkei no jutsu (Wood Release Secret Technique: Plant Decapitation Technique)."**

A plant shot out of the ground and dragged one of the, unaware, demon brothers under. The other demon brother paused to look at his ally, who was dragged up to his head under ground.

He then held out his right arm, "**Hayashi Shuushuku" **Vines shot out of the plant on Naruto's wrist, growing thorns at the same time. They wrapped themselves around the, distracted, man's right arm.

The man grunted from the pain…

Kakashi appeared right in front of the man…

"You've just been poisoned, courtesy of Naruto there." Kakashi lied, honestly knowing nothing about this odd move Naruto just did, gesturing to Naruto. "You have only a few minutes to live…if you tell me what I want to know…I'll give you the antidote…" The man was scared shitless, so he quickly complied. Telling the ninjas everything…about being hired by Gatou…about Zabuza, the demon of the Hidden Mist…

To say that Kakashi was angered would be an understatement…he quickly knocked both men out…after telling them that he was lying about the poison…

After digging the first brother out…he tied them both up and sent a message to Konaha, to come collect them.

"We need to talk…"

Tazuna grimaced…

_---A few hours later---_

The group had just finished having dinner and were standing in a clearing…tomorrow they would get on the ferry to Wave Country…Although Tazuna lied about the mission parameters…the group still agreed to go with him.

Kakashi looked up at the sky. He noticed that it was about to rain. He picked a scroll out of one of his pockets; he cut his thumb and smeared the blood on the scroll; he started doing hand seals.

After he finished twelve dogs, all wearing Konaha Hiaetes, appeared. Kakashi nodded at them. They all ran off in different directions. "They'll keep guard…set up your tents…"

Naruto grimaced slightly as the others started setting up their tents, he had forgotten to pack his tent…that's when an idea formed in Naruto's mind…

It was a rather big clearing…

He started doing handseals, he never has actually preformed this jutsu…though he constantly practiced the handseals… **"Mokuton: Shichuka no Jutsu (Wood Release: Four Pillars House Technique)!"**

Many roots started coming from the ground. They started growing and twisting together. It took them about a minute to finish…by the time it did, Naruto was on top of a fully formed house…it looked like a two story, old Japanese style, inn.

The other four gawked at the building that just materialized out of the ground. Naruto was panting pretty hard, 'Damn for a none combat jutsu…it sure takes a lot of chakra…'. After he caught his breath, Naruto jumped down, right next to Kakashi, still smiling. "Sensei…I forgot to pack my tent…so if you don't mind…I'll just camp out in their…"

"Wouldn't really call that camping", muttered Sakura. She then glanced back at her small tent… "Hey Naruto…I forgot my tent to…mind if I use one of the rooms?", she lied…assuming that the building had multiple rooms…

Kakashi smiled at her, "Isn't that your tent over their…", pointing at the tent that she put up…

Sakura smiled nervously… "Ummm…no…"

"Whatever…" muttered Naruto… "Anyone else forget to bring their tent?" Naruto asked as he walked into the building…

It started drizzling out side…so Sakura grabbed her bag, leaving the tent 'that wasn't hers' and walked inside the inn-sized building…

Kakashi shrugged and walked inside…

Sasuke was thinking, 'Not really how I planned my first time outside the village to be…' He shrugged though…figuring might as well be comfortable while sleeping…

Tazuna was still gawking, 'Who the hell are these guys?'

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**A/N: I really liked that Jutsu when I read about it...In fact...the only reason I've been writing this WHOLE story was to use THAT jutsu in a story...now that I did...i guess i'll probably DISCONTINUE the story...**

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**Just kidding about the discontinuing. Nothing short of an uncontrollable force of Nature will stop me from updating... (On a related topic...I live in Florida...Hurricane central)**

**Ok the reason I'm not proud of this chapter is because it seems to keep changing emotions left and right...(I couldn't find a way to fix it( and still keep the story the way I wanted it to turn out) so...I decided to leave it.) **

**Sakura...though my opinion (and liking) for her constantly changes (as it does with Sasuke)...I decided to NOT completely Bash the hell out of her (or him). Sakura is weird though...in every story I've read people give her Super Strength and Healing Powers (which go's along with the story); every now and then I've seen her specialize in Genjutsu as well (being analytical and all). Those are the THREE things that i've only ever seen Sakura specialize in...so I'm going to try something different, (though she'll still get healing abilities and possibly super strength.)**

** As I stated in one of the flashbacks...Sasuke and Naruto each Have an element...Sakura never seems to get ninjutsu (at least not in the stories i've read) So I decided specialize her in an element...I can't decide which one...so i'm going to hold a poll. I'm not adding Wood (for obvious reasons) and Fire (to try to get the team to have different elements).  
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**Your choices are:**

**1) Lightning **

**2) Earth**

**3) Wind**

**4) Water (I'll probably add Ice to this...so I won't make Ice it's an option)**

**5) I'm reading this story for Dark Naruto...and I don't give a damn about Sakura...**

**I think that these are the only Elements...but I may have missed something...If I did please inform me...Oh and if you pick option five...please leave me an opinion anyways...**

** Please REVIEW (I underlined the word Review in this chapter! OBEY THE UNDERLINED WORD)  
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	5. Demon’s of Mist and Leaf

**A/N: I'm sorry for the slow update...had a lot of things going on... Anyway...i'll TRY to update sooner...**

**-I meant to add this in the last chapter...The reason I did the thing for the Hayate clan...the reason I NAMED it that...was because I had just finished playing Dead or Alive 3...and Hayate was the first name that popped into my head when I wrote this...(I had completely forgotten at the time that Hayate was the last name of a ninja in the anime/manga...Gekko Hayate...Anyway...so instead of changing it...I made up all this other crap...that's the explanation behind that...)**

**- Narutos bracelet (I'm trying not to call it that...sounds to... ".hack/games") looks like a christmas reef (though much smaller) and instead of having leaves in the shape of needles...they are shaped like ordinary leaves...**

**-I think...thats all the questions i've recieved... **

**-Still not sure if i'm allowed to respond to reviews individually...hope someone will let me know...**

**-The results of the poll are in...**

** 1) Lightning: 4**

** 2) Earth: 7  
**

**3) Wind: 7**

**4) **** Water: 9**

**5) I don't give a crap about Sakura: ...to many to count...how about this...add the other four together...multiply it by two...and thats the number...**

**Anyway...Water is the winner... (though i'm kind of upset that so many people voted twice...in the future please do only ONE vote...)**

**Sakura will be Water...Sasuke is Fire...Naruto has Wood. (I feel like I'm playing a game of pokemon...)  
**

**anyway...heres the chapter... **

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Chapter 5: Demon's of Mist and Leaf….**

**_A pair of children were walking side by side down the huge carnival. The blonde child looked backwards to see a small group following them, their bodyguards…_**

**_Naruto turned back to the silver-haired girl in front of him._**

**_They made their way back towards the group of older men, Sarutobi and Yoko._**

**_The old men smiled at the two of them, "Have fun you two?"_**

**"_Yea it was a lot of fun! This carnival is so big!" exclaimed an excited Rei._**

**_Yoko smiled at his granddaughter, "That's great to here…we don't have much time left…how about a few pictures…"_**

**"_Ok!" Rei said as she grabbed onto Naruto…_**

**_She sat down in front of the camera sitting on Yoko's lap, Naruto sitting on Sarutobi's lap, she was still holding the blondes hand. One of Yoko's guards were taking the picture, "Say cheese…"_**

**"_CHEESE!" screamed the excited girl, causing everyone to smile at her happy attitude…_**

**_The flash went off…_**

Naruto's eyes opened the second the flash went off…He sighed and got up…

_---Outside the Wooden House---_

Naruto charged his chakra, almost as quickly as it appeared; the inn-sized house disappeared under the soil. This time, however, Naruto wasn't panting, 'I guess it only takes a lot of chakra to make it grow it…not to send it back to the soil.'

Naruto nodded at his four companions.

"Alright, lets continue…"

_---A few hours later---_

Team 7 has just got off of the ferry that took them over to Wave Country; they could see the unfinished bridge from their position.

"Be careful Tazuna…" warned the boatman.

Tazuna nodded in his direction.

The party of five took off, towards the unknown.

"So…what's the deal with this Gatou person?", asked Sakura.

Tazuna sighed, "Smuggling, kidnapping, drug dealing…and that's only a summary of the things he's involved with…he's taxing are people highly…the fact is that unless we finish this bridge…we'll be doomed to poverty forever…"

"That's awful…" Sakura sympathized…

Though Naruto was smiling, with a seemingly 'out of it' expression, Naruto's mind was going a mile a minute, 'Hn…is this what normal humans are…they betray, hurt, and capitalize off of each other…they worry about nothing but their own personal gains…" Naruto's thoughts were cut off though.

**"Now you know what I HAD to deal with everyday…Everybody's like Wah! Wah! Wah! Kyuubi destroyed my village…THEY NEVER stopped to understand that I'M THE VICTEM HERE…" **an image of a Chibi Kyuubi entered Naruto's mind.

Naruto growled inwardly, 'Get the hell out of my mind!'

The chibi Kitsune pouted**, "Oh fine…you try to give a guy a little company in the human bashing and what does it get you…fucking gets your head bitten off. Geeez…the way you talk…you'd think you didn't want me in your life…"**

'I'm not going to dignify that with a response…'

**"So anyway…I bet the pink haired ninja is wearing lacy pink panties…the old man is wearing briefs…the OTHER mental one is wearing tighty whities…and your sensei is wearing a thong…"**

"WHAT!" Naruto's random outburst made the other four stop to stare at the blonde, who for once lost his smile and had a shocked look on his face…

Sakura was the first to break out of her stupor, "Is something wrong Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head, replacing his shocked expression with an eerie smile, and ignoring the loud laughing in his head, "No…nothings wrong…" With that he walked off…leaving the other four to stare at him questioningly.

'And where the HELL did that observation come from?'

Kyuubi snickered…**"You can tell a lot about a person by the type of underwear they wear…like your pink-haired friend…obviously has a PINK fetish…the old man has…" **He was cut off.

'I really don't give a damn…wait…how the hell do you figure Kakashi-sensei is wearing a thong…'

**"His look…it just screams, 'Metro'!"**

'I changed my mind…I really don't care…' Naruto eyes suddenly shifted to the right. He quickly pulled out a kunai.

This action signaled Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna…but not Kakashi who was already aware.

"Get down!" Kakashi yelled as a giant sword came flying at the group.

Naruto and Sasuke jumped down…Kakashi pushed Tazuna and Sakura to the ground.

The sword flew harmlessly above the group, and became engraved into a tree. A shirtless figure, wearing bandages over his mouth appeared on the large sword. The group jumped up to their feet.

The man, who was wearing a slashed Mist Haiete, spoke, "Kakashi Hatake…the copy ninja…it's an honor…no wonder the demon brothers failed."

"Zabuza Momochi…the Demon of the Hidden Mist…an A-class Nuke-nin (Missing Nin). If I'm to fight you…" He reached up to his headband, the part covering his left eye, and pulled it up, revealing a red eye, with three black commas. "…I'll need this!"

"The Sharingan…I'm honored…"

'SHARINGAN…but he shouldn't have that…that's a blood limit that belongs to MY CLAN!' Thought a confused Uchiha.

Zabuza, sword and all, disappeared and reappeared right on top of a nearby lake. His chakra flared, **"Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique)!"**

Mist started to gather around the group…

The three genin, who received a signal from Kakashi, got into a formation around Tazuna.

Zabuza's voice started coming out of the forest…he was speaking of all the points where it was possible to kill someone…it had all the genin on edge…

Suddenly the nukenin appeared behind the ninja, sword ready to cleave all three in half. Kakashi turned around and lunged himself at Zabuza, stabbing his kunai into Zabuza…

Suddenly 'Zabuza' burst into water. Kakashi turned around just in time to see Zabuza appear behind him and cleave him in half…

Suddenly Kakashi, just like Zabuza before him, burst into water as well. Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza and held a Kunai to Zabuza's throat.

"You're done…"

Zabuza grinned, "That's what your think." Zabuza burst into water again. He appeared behind Kakashi again and attempted to cleave him. Kakashi jumped back, landing on the water… Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi again. **"Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique)." **A globe of water surrounded Kakashi… "I've got you now…"

A clone of Zabuza appeared out of the water. The clone started walking towards the genin.

"RUN! HE'S TO MUCH FOR YOU! TAKE TAZUNA AND GO!" Kakashi yelled…

Sakura shook, 'Kakashi-sensei…we can't just leave him…'

Sasuke sneered, 'If I can't fight this guy…how will I ever be able to face HIM!'

Naruto's facial expression didn't falter, 'We'll never be able to avoid him…after he kills Kakashi…he'll just catch up and kill us…Only shot is to free Kakashi…Hmmm…they're pretty close to the shoreline…' Naruto started flowing his chakra into the ground, just like he's done plenty of times before.

Zabuza appeared in front of Naruto and punched him in the face. Sasuke and Sakura, with Tazuna, jumped back. Naruto on the other hand was thrown back. When Naruto got back up, he noticed that he wasn't wearing his Haiete.

"You children…call yourselves ninja? You aren't worthy of the title." Mused Zabuza's **Mizu Bunshin** as it bounced Naruto's Haiete up and down, in his right hand.

Naruto's reply was the same smile that he gave everyone. He reached into his bag and pulled out a Fuuma shurikan. He looked at Sasuke, tapping his foot on the ground at the same time.

Sasuke stared right back at Naruto, who had just unfolded his Fuuma. He understood the signal, almost instantly. He reached for his bag, pulling out his own Fuuma Shurikan, unfolding it at the same time.

Naruto saw Sasuke nod.

"Shurikan? Projectiles won't work against me…"

Sasuke and Naruto both smirked, and threw their Fuumas. Sasuke, being more skilled with shurikan, threw his harder and faster.

Both shurikan flew around the Water Clone, heading straight for the real Zabuza.

Sasuke was the first to reach the Nukenin. However, the shurikan proved useless, as Zabuza quickly grabbed the Fuuma, with his free hand. He quickly looked back up to see Naruto's closing in. He quickly jumped over the Uzamaki's Fuuma, keeping his hand in the water globe at the same time.

"I TOLD YOU! A SHURIKAN WON'T WORK AGIANST ME!", yelled Zabuza. He froze though as he saw that both Sasuke and Naruto were still smirking. His eyes slightly widened as he saw Naruto finishing handseals.

Suddenly a giant root shoots up from the water, smashing against Zabuzas chin. 'The shurikans were just a distraction!' Zabuza stumbles back, releasing his hold on Kakashi's prison, releasing the copy ninja.

Kakashi, though relieved, was sending out a huge wave of killer intent at Zabuza, who had regained his balance. He glared at the young Kitsune, and threw Sasuke's Fuuma at the blonde. The Fuuma was however intercepted by Kakashi, and flew harmlessly into the lake.

They both glared at each other before doing a set of handseals…

After a long chain they both yelled out, **"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!"**

Two giants water dragons appeared out of the lake and crashed into each other, causing huge waves to form on the lake.

They both started doing another set of handseals…

Zabuza's eyes widened, 'He's not just copying me…he's surpassing my speed…'

"**Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"** yelled Kakashi before he could complete the seals. A giant torrent of water flew at Zabuza, engulfing him and slamming him into a nearby tree…

Zabuza coughed, trying to get the water out of his lungs. He felt Kakashi appear right next to him, placing a kunai against his neck. "Can…you see into the future?"

Kakashi smiled, "Yes…you're going to die…"

Suddenly multiple needles flew out of nowhere and pierced Zabuza's neck. Zabuza fell onto the ground, and someone landed right next to him. He/She was wearing a green battle Kimono, and white mask, with a red swirl on it and a symbol, marking him as a mist nin.

"A Hunter-nin?"

"Yes…thank you…you were very helpful in the capture of this man…I've been tracking him for a long time now…" said the hunter-nin, whose voice obviously marked him as a girl.

Kakashi nodded, though hesitantly.

The hunter-nin grabbed Zabuza and disappeared…

Kakashi's eyes widened, "Wait…Ugh…" With that Kakashi fainted.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" yelled the Kunoichi as she ran to the fallen jounin.

The other three slowly followed.

"Chakra…exhaustion…"

Tazuna shook his head sadly; "Lets get him to my house…"

Sakura nodded.

Naruto took a second to look around and noticed his Haiete on the ground, not sensing danger, he went to go pick it up.

_---Two Days Later---_

Kakashi slowly opened his eyes. He found himself in a room, a blue-haired woman staring at him.

"Your finally awake.", noted the Woman.

"Where am I?"

"This is Tazuna's house", replied Sakura from the door. She pointed to the woman, "This is Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami."

Kakashi nodded, "Where are Sasuke and Naruto?"

Sakura sighed, "Sasuke's training…Naruto's meditating…"

"Get them both in here…we're going to begin some real training…Zabuza's still alive…"

_---Two Days Later---_

Naruto was currently resting in the middle of the woods…Kakashi had gotten them to try a tree climbing exercise, without using their hands. It was meant to increase their chakra control…Sakura got a hold of the technique right away. Sasuke made a little progress, but not much. Naruto on the other hand hadn't made much progress at all. He had just woken up, having spent the night out in the woods. He had preferred not to go back to Tazuna's house that night, because of a scuffle with Tazuna's grandson, Inari.

_---Flashback---_

_Team 7, Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari were all sitting down for dinner. When all of a sudden Inari stood up, slamming his hands against the table._

"_WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE! It doesn't matter how much training you do! Gatou is unbeatable! He's just going to kill you all!", shouted Inari._

"_Geez…your such a little bitch…", mumbled the Uzamaki, causing everyone to look at him._

"_WHAT!"_

"_NARUTO!" yelled Sakura._

"_First off…you have no idea what it means to have a hard life…" Naruto mumbled in between bites, "But, that's not important, the fact of the matter is you have two choices…fight or live in this 'hell' for the rest of your life…Your grandfather has chosen to fight, by building the bridge and hiring us to protect him…and instead of encouraging him, and us, your wasting our time by spewing crap about how Gatou will kill us…" Naruto set down his plate and stood up, smiling eerily at the boy before him, ignoring the shocked looks he was receiving. "The fact of the matter is…you're useless…I used to be like you…letting anyone push me around, and not even caring…but I'm different now…I'm no ones bitch now…and unless you want to change yourself…you might as well go to Gatou and ask him to kill you tonight…" With that, Naruto left the dining room, going off to train…_

_---End Flashback---_

'Hmm…maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on the kid…Oh well…to late to worry about that now.' Naruto shrugged it off; he was still lying on the grass. He heard some faint footsteps and opened his eyes. To his right he saw a girl walking in his direction. Long brown hair, chocolate eyes, wearing a pink kimono. She had a basket in one of her hands. She looked to be a little older than him, though not by much.

He shrugged it off; closing his eyes again, 'Not my concern.'

"Hello…" said the girl…

Naruto sighed inwardly, 'Should've guessed that she wouldn't leave me alone.' "Hn…" he replied without opening his eyes.

The girl shrugged and started picking plants. "You'll catch a cold if you sleep out here…"

"Probably…"

The girl paused to look at him; she was noticeably unnerved by his smile. "You're probably worrying your family and friends by staying out here…"

"No friends…no family…" Naruto said, partially lying.

"I'm sorry to hear that…" She looked at him for a while longer. "Are you a ninja?"

"Can't hide anything from you…can I…"

The girl glared at him for a second…but her face softened quickly, "You've…must've had a hard life…I'm sorry for that…"

"Not your fault…so don't apologize…"

The girl sighed, "My name's Haku…"

"Naruto…"

"Are you strong Naruto-san?"

"How do YOU judge strength…"

Haku thought about that for a while…before smiling at him, "I personally think that your strength is determined by your precious people…I think that if you have a lot of people to protect…that will make you strong…"

"By your philosophy…I'm weak…"

"You don't have any precious people?"

Naruto didn't answer right away…He thought back to a silver haired, red-eyed girl, his first friend…He thought about a brown haired chunin, with a scare on his face, the first Konaha citizen to not see him as a hero or a demon, but as Naruto…He thought about the aged Hokage…Though he would always say that he hated all three of them, especially the Hokage, he never really hated them… "Nope…I don't have many worth protecting…the ones I do have, can easily protect themselves…"

"No one? Not one person worth protecting…"

Naruto thought about a pink-haired Kunoichi…an onyx-eyed avenger…and a silver-haired pervert…his thought about his 'family' that he'd never even met before… "Nope…not one…"

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and resisted the urge to grab his kunai and stab it; out of reaction of course…He opened his eyes to look up at the girl…

"I'm so sorry to hear that Naruto-san…"

Naruto sighed, "Like I said…not your fault…nothing to be sorry about…"

Haku sighed.

She got up, having filled her basket, and made to leave.

"Those herbs…are those for YOUR precious person Haku?"

She paused and turned towards the boy, "Yes…I'm hoping they'll heal him up quickly."

"Hn…goodbye…"

"Goodbye Naruto-san…I hope you find peace…in this world or the next…", she said, whispering that final part to herself.

'Hmmm…protecting ones precious people as a source of strength…I wonder…OH well…in another time, in another world, I may have listened her words…'

Another hour went by before Naruto decided to get up. When he did, he noticed Sasuke appear right next to him. They both nodded at each other, before going to practice on their own.

---A few days later—

"LET MY MOTHER GO!"

Naruto shot up off of his mattress. He quickly looked around and noted that Sasuke, his roommate wasn't with him…

"LET HER GO-", the same voice screamed, obviously Inari.

"INARI JUST RUNAWAY!", came a second voice, Tsunami.

Naruto jumped to his feet and ran to the door, grabbing his fighting clothes and gear at the same time.

---Down Stairs---

Naruto came down stairs, dressed as he normally would. He didn't see anyone, but noted the front door wide opened…

"Shit!" He muttered under his breath as he ran out the door. 'Where are Kakashi-sensei and the others?'

He figured that he had obviously over slept…having spent the last week doing nothing but practicing the tree climbing exercise. He had finally completed it last night, as did Sasuke. They both made it in late.

Naruto ran outside of the rather large house. He looked around and noticed that Inari was running towards the docks. Two men, both carrying swords, were dragging along his mother…

---Inari---

"LET HER GO NOW!" screamed the young boy as he rush the two swords man, only to be kicked away by one.

"Get loss you little punk…", muttered the one who kicked him.

"INARI RUN AWAY NOW!"

Inari paused, still on the ground, tears in his eyes,

"…_and unless you want to change yourself…you might as well go to Gatou and ask him to kill you tonight…"_

"_You must protect what's yours…with both your arms…"_

Inari's eyes widened and narrowed in determination. "I WON'T LET YOU TAKE AWAY MY MOTHER TOO! AHHHHHHHH" He screamed as he rushed both mercenaries, fist raised.

They both looked on in amusement as they unsheathed their swords…

Tsunami's eyes widened. "NOOO!"

Both men slashed at the boy, cleaving him twice. No blood was spilled though. That's when the boy suddenly turned into a log. They heard something land on the bridge behind them. They turned around just in time to see a few thorned vines heading towards the one of on the left. **"Hayashi Shuushuku"**, muttered the blonde behind the vines.

The wrapped themselves around the waste of one of the mercenaries, making him scream as the thorns pierced his skin. Naruto quickly pulled on the vines and slammed the entangled man, into the one who was still free…knocking them both into the water…

He saw a little blood come up to the surface and quickly mused the idea of it being shark infested waters…but he quickly got rid of the thought…

He turned back to the boy behind him, who was latched onto his mother… "Good job Inari…if it wasn't for you…it would've been a little harder to take those guys out…"

Inari smiled at the blonde.

Naruto turned to walk away. 'If these guy's are here…that means there may be trouble at the bridge…'

_---Bridge---_

Naruto got to the position where everyone was obviously fighting. He was currently right underneath the bridge, walking on the bottom of it, thankful that he didn't have to swim…He slowly made his way to peek over the top. He saw Sakura and Tazuna together. He could see a large quantity of mist, guessing that's where Kakashi and Zabuza were. Lastly he saw Sasuke, looking very much like a pin cushion, surrounded by what looked like multiple mirrors, with the reflection of that Hunter-nin moving through each one. 'I guess that Hunter-nin was a fake after all…'

Naruto went back down and took this time to think… 'Hmmm…Sasuke is having trouble with that Hunter-nin…and who knows where Kakashi is…I doubt I can do much against the Hunter-nin…but…' Naruto mused as he started searching through his pouch.

_---On the bridge---_

The mist had dispersed slightly, letting everyone see Kakashi and Zabuza's fight…they looked to be at about even terms at the moment…

Suddenly they heard an explosion. Kakashi turned around to see the source; Zabuza, already facing towards that direction, didn't need to turn. Sakura, Sasuke, Tazuna, and the Hunter-nin paused as well.

There was a large amount of smoke right between both fights; Kakashi vs Zabuza, and Sasuke vs the Hunter-nin.

When the smoke cleared Naruto, doing a moronic posed appeared. "Yo!"

Kakashi growled, "Naruto! You should've stayed hidden!" 'He would've been more useful as a distraction…damn it…I should've taught him better…'

Naruto's reply was a simple smile before he muttered, **"Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan."**

Suddenly a root broke through the bridge, right next to Zabuza, causing everyone to snap their heads in that direction.

Zabuza mocked laught, obviously expecting it, he slightly moved his head back, causing the root to miss hitting his chin again. His eyes widened though, at what he saw next, 'AN EXPLOSIVE TAG!'

The tag exploded right in front of Zabuza, causing him to go flying back.

Kakashi took this moment to take a scroll out of his vest.

Zabuza finally regained his balance, landing on the bridge, when two more plants shot out of the ground. These two, however were both purple and had a mouth of sharp teeth. They latched themselves onto the arms of the man…causing him to howl in pain.

He started struggling for a bit, finally he ripped one of his arms out of one of the plant's mouths; causing large scratches to appear, do to the teeth. 'That's the second time I've underestimated this punk.' He grabbed his sword, which was on his back, and used it to cleave both plants, releasing his other arm. However that was all the distraction that was required.

"**Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!**" 

Mutlple large dogs shot out of the ground, and latched themselves all over Zabuza's body.

Kakashi growled, "Your done…", as he started doing handseals…

"**Raikiri (Lightning Blade)!**" Chakra started crackling into Kakashi's right hand, his left holding his right wrist. He started rushing the Nuke-nin, planning to impale him with the crackling lightning chakra. The Hunter-nin's eyes widened, though you couldn't see it through his mask. She exited her mirror and started doing handseals, two mirrors started to appear, one next to her and one next to Zabuza. Her eyes widened again as she feels two cuts graze her arms…She turned back around to see that Sasuke had thrown two kunai. 'I forgot about him.' She turned to complete the handseals when she sees multiple vines wrap themselves around her, the thorns piercing her shoulders and UPPER chest (A/N: Perverts…get your minds out of the gutter.) Naruto pulls on his right arm and slams her against the ground. This causes her mask to break, and Naruto notices that she's the same girl as before. She tries to struggle, but he restrains her. Putting a knee to one hand. The other knee to her back. One hand restraining her other hand. And with his right hand, he puts a kunai to her neck. He slightly loosens the hold on the vines. She raises her head to watch Kakashi about to pierce Zabuza. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" she screams, still struggling and ignoring the kunai at her throat… Naruto was slightly taken back. 'Does she care about this man that much…'… "I'm sorry…Haku…" 

It was to late though…Zabuza was hit…

"NOOOO!"

Kakashi lowers his headband, covering his sharingan, as he dismisses the dogs…letting Zabuza drop.

Naruto sighs and gets off of the girl, releasing her from the vines restraining her.

She jumps to her feet and rushes over to Zabuza…She kneels by the bloody man, who now has a fist sized hole in his chest…

"Zabuza-sama…"

"You've failed me…my weapon…you've rusted…"

Haku's eyes widened at the words of the man who she considered a father… "Zabuza-sama…."

"Just like a human…" muttered Naruto as he walked by both Zabuza and Haku…

Haku glared at him…but it was Zabuza who responded, "What!"

"Demon of the hidden mist…BAH! Your nothing but a human…using others how you please until they're no longer useful to you…nevermind the fact that she would do anything you said…or that she almost gave her life for yours…you simply live on the fact that she failed you…your nothing but a simple weak human Zabuza…" with that…Naruto walked off…

"Your wrong…", muttered Haku…

Zabuza's eyes had widened though, He thought back to the time when he first took Haku in…when he trained her…all the times they spent together…it made tears well up in his eyes…

He lie their thinking for so long…that he hadn't even noticed that Gatou arrived a minute ago, with a horde of mercenaries…

"Now that you all are worn out…I can easily finish you off…" Laughed the old man…

Kakashi and Naruto got into a combat stance… Sasuke was ready as well, though still hurt from the needles. Sakura, dutifully, stood right in front of Tazuna.

Haku growled, "You-"

She was cut off though as she felt a hand on her shoulder… "Haku…I'm sorry…and thank you for everything…" muttered the demon of the hidden mist…He started chewing on the bandages that were covering his mouth…until the fell, revealing the bottom of his face… He looked at Naruto, with a look of respect. "Hey kid…give me that Kunai knife…"

Naruto nodded as he tossed the kunai he was holding into the air…

Zabuza caught it in his mouth and rushed at the group…

Gatou, scared shitless, ran behind his mercenary.

Zabuza rushed into the crowd, slashing at the mercenary and at the same times being pierced with several spears and swords.

He finally broke away from the crowd and rushed at Gatou…slashing him and stabbing the old man before sending him into the ocean.

Zabuza fell to his knees and then fell completely…

"ZABUZA!", screamed an upset Haku.

The remaining mercenaries sneered at the group… "Whatever…we'll pillage the town and Gatou's storages…" That's when an arrow embedded itself onto the ground right next to the one who spoke.

Everyone turned to see Inari, holding a crossbow, and an angry mob a villagers rushing towards the fighters…

The mercenaries freaked out and ran away, now being out classed and out matched…

Haku, still suffering from her own wounds, managed to limp towards Zabuza's body…

She kneeled and started crying on his chest… "Otousan…"

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**A/N: And that's the update...a little more angst than usual...**

**Anway...somone asked me how dark THIS Naruto would be... and the answer is...**

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**I don't know...though I have some ideas for a good bit of the story...i truly don't know how it will end...  
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**What I do know is this (and this may change)...**

**-Will Naruto snap (Cues music "One Step Closer" by linkin park) and go on a rampage killing everyone in Konaha...probably not... **

**-Will the people (after finding out that Naruto is the son of Yondaime) automatically love him..and make him the next Hokage and Naruto lives happily ever after with his love (Cues music "Savin Me" by Nickleback)...probably not...**

** _(BTW...I don't own Linkin Park, Nickleback, or any of theirs songs...it would be really cool if i did though)_  
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**-WILL NARUTO BECOME A HOKAGE...I'm not even going to answer that question...if you want to know my opinion on the subject... read one (or both) of my oneshots... you'll get your answer there...**

**---- **

**Ok...I'm sure most of you have been waiting for this since i've announced the possible pairings...know this though...pairings WON'T be important...until MUCH later...maybe a little fluff here and there...that's it...**

**Pairings for Naruto... _(VOTE ONLY ONCE! ONE VOTE PER PERSON!)_ (sorry if this sounds strick or rude)  
**

**1) Naruto x Haku** **(I beleive that this is the most popular one...One that values precious people...another who doesn't give a damn...Somone, in a review, mentioned how powerful the children of these two would be, control of both wood and water...kinda like the 1st and 2nd Hokages mixed into one...if i don't put her with Naruto...hmmm maybe it would be cute to have her with Rock Lee. Here's what i'm thinking...She switches from a guy who has NO EYEBROWS, Zabuza,...to a guy with HUGE EYEBROWS, Lee,...Huh Huh...sound good... Looks at the glares he's receiving "DONT KILL ME" reaches into his bag and throws out issues of 'Icha Icha Paradise' and 'Yaoi pictures of Naruto and Sasuke' and then runs away...)**

**---About an hour later--- **

**Alright lets continue  
**

**2) Naruto x Rei (My OC-THAT IS NOT HIS SISTER, I CAN NOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!) (Originally...this WAS the pairing I was going to use...but then I thought Haku would be a cute pairing as well, so i didn't know which to use...Anyway...his old friend...he carries HER sword around everywhere, though i don't really mention it anymore and he doesn't know how to use it...yet...I'm kind of dissapointed that i didn't get a chance to do more flashbacks with her...before doing this poll...but i'm getting so many reviews with pairings...i thought i may as well get it out of the way...IF she is NOT chosen...she'll still be in the fic and continue to be Naruto's FRIEND, gosh knows he needs one...maybe a pairing with Gaara...gosh knows he needs one to...)**

** 3) Naruto x Hinata (This use to be my favorite pairing...problem is, I've read so many of them, most of them being excellent by the way. Anway...I don't know how she would fall for this dark Naruto...but if she wins the poll****...i'll find a way to make it work...If she isn't chosen...she'll probably be with Kiba...or once again, be with Gaara...)  
**

**...I'm only accepting votes from people who vote AFTER I place this chapter...all votes that came up earlier will NOT count...**

**Anyway...please read and REVIEW (PRESS THAT PRETTY BLUE BUTTON AND SAY SOMETHING) **


	6. The Chunin Exams

**Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto.**

** A/N: Sorry for late update (while i'm at it i'll apologize for the short update...only about three thousand words).**

**Ok...I've been hearing that i've been having issues with changing from past to present tense (and vice versa) throughout the whole story...I'd just like you all to know that I AM trying to fix that...but if you see the problems persist, please let me know, because i'm trying to fix it...until i fix it completely i'll have to use the excuse that i'm a college student.**

**Naruto's sister...I can't beleive how much everyone wants me to hurt her (I've planned to from the start)... Seriously...she didn't choose her life (Just like Naruto didn't choose his)...If your going to hate her...please wait untill i give you a reason to... FYI Not sure when she's going to show up. I have three different times in mind, all of them being AFTER the chunin exams. As for Rei...she'll show up at about the same time, but most likely earlier.**

**Ok...i got a comment saying that ONLY the Yondaime knew how to use Shunshin no Jutsu (I used to beleive the same thing). But that is not true...Shunshin no jutsu is the teleportation technique that ALL high level ninjas use, like Gaara dissapears in a swirl of sand...or Kakashi does in a puff of smoke. Yondaimes move is called Hiraishin no Jutsu. Somone has already addressed this (though i wished he/she would've been a little more tactful...thx btw) I felt the need to address this myself...  
**

**Ok...now the poll...(so i can finally stop hearing about pairings in the reviews.) Drum roll please...**

**bum**

**bum**

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**bum...HAKU**

**Haku: 59  
**

**Rei: 26  
**

**Hinata: 12**

**more or less...i think i may have miscounted a few times...but it wasn't close enough for me to recount...SO**

** So here's my view on pairings (I'm sorry if i insult anyone with my stupid ranting)**

**Somone asked for**

**Naruto/Tayuya (wouldn't work in this story...i'll explain why later)**

**Naruto/Anko (though she WOULD understand Naruto...i hate pairing young boys with older woman, and vice versa...i dislike seeing Naruto with pairings like Tsunade or Shizune or Kurenai...or others like that...although...i have read a really hilarious Naruto/Anko story...it's a pity the story was discontinued...**

**Naruto/Yaoi (I don't like Yaoi and i'm a pervert...so i like straight pairings and Yuri pairings...but as respect to Yaoi lovers I WILL NOT DO any Yuri pairings...SO...ALL MY STORIES...will consist of STRAIGHT pairings...**

**Naruto/Tsunami (...theres somehting just wrong about this pairing...I once read a Tsunami/Zabuza pairing though...DAMN...to late to think about that...enter RAISE THE DEAD NO JUTSU!...not)**

** HAKU (There are those of you that can't imagine Haku as a girl...you need to find a way into my mind, because i can't imagine him as a guy...only one thing will engrave the image as Haku being a guy into my mind...and i'm glad to say that i'll probably never see it, lets just leave it at that...)**

**REI (Some of you got interested in a OC pairing...sorry but it won't be happening in this story...IF you are intersted in OCs...i do have another story i've been writing that is a COMPLETE OC Naruto story... called "Chronicles of Tsukigakure", i hate to publicize my fic like this...but if your interested you can give that a read)**

**HINATA (Hinata fans can look towards the bottom A/N)**

**That's about everything i wanted to say...on with the story.  
**

**----------------------------------------------  
**

**Chapter 6: The Chunin Exams**

Team 7, and Haku, were currently crossing the new bridge that connected Wave Country to Fire Country. It had been about two weeks since the battle on the Great Bridge. However, without Gatou or his men around, guarding the bridge and bridge builders had been a one-person job, team 7 each taking a turn.

Naruto had spent the remainder of the time training his Mokuton abilites… Recently he had been able to create five trees at a time. The problem was that this ability sapped to much of his chakra; for someone like Naruto, who had an abundance of chakra, it was quite a feat to sap him of nearly half of his chakra, not including Kyuubi's store of course…

Kakashi used most of his free time with Sasuke. He needed to teach the boy how to control his sharingan, having unlocked it during the fight with Haku.

Sakura trained every now and then, but mostly spent time with Haku.

Haku, however, went into a deep form of depression. For a whole week she stayed in her room, the one Tsunami had allowed her to use. She barely ate or drank a thing. Sakura went to her side often to try to cheer the girl up. Even Kakashi came and offered the girl a few kind words, he felt horrible, being the one who killed the Mist nin, or at least the one who gave him the fatal wound. Sasuke, knowing what its like to have the ones you care about killed before your eyes, wanted to offer the girl his condolences…but he really didn't know what to say to her…so he decided to just leave her be. Naruto, knowing what its like to be alone for most of his life, also felt like consoling her…but like Sasuke, he wasn't skilled in doing so…so he opted to leave her alone as well, though he did feel responsible for her heartache. After about a week, she finally decided to come back outside, though she spent the next four days outside in the forest. On the fourth day she finally had a long talk with Sakura…the two girls talked about multiple things, and for that one day…Sakura managed to get Haku's mind off of Zabuza. The remainder of the few days Haku spent at Tazuna's house, spending her time downstairs, mostly with either Tsunami or Sakura. On the day before the leaf nins were meant to go back to Konaha, Haku asked Kakashi if she could go with them…Kakashi agreed to the girl's request.

And so they left together

_---A week Later (Konaha)---_

Team 7 was currently standing on the bridge, where they usually wait for their sensei. Sakura, after having asked Sasuke on a date for the tenth time that week, was simply sitting on the railing, and looking out towards the village. Sasuke, after declining Sakura's request, opted to lean against the railing, brooding about how he would kill his brother. Naruto was also leaning against the railing, but unlike Sasuke, he wasn't brooding.

Naruto had woken up early to continue his testing on some plants. He had learned, on the trip back to Konaha, that he could manipulate SOME plants that were growing around him. He couldn't do too much work with them while the group was traveling. He woke up early though, to start experimenting on other plants. Most of them had interesting results, though he didn't care to much about the results of the rose; it turned into a long whip with multiple thorns…he dispelled the effects when he thought he heard someone yell something about S&M Loving Fox…or maybe it was just in his head…he thought he heard laughing as well…

At the moment Naruto was holding a bamboo flower, having grabbed it right before he left for the bridge. Naruto, holding the bamboo flower between his hands, started doing the necessary handseals. Unlike the **Moon Leaves**, on his wrist, other plants weren't so sensitive to chakra, and as such couldn't change as quickly. Last time Naruto attempted to change a plant, without using handseals, it had taken him close to half an hour, of constantly concentrating chakra, to do so. So Kyuubi had helped him develop handseals which would make the process take only a few seconds. The handseals were actually just a condensed version of the **Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan **hand seals. He finished the hand seals, muttering, **"Mokuton Hijutsu: Shokubutsu Henkan no jutsu (Wood Release Secret Technique: Plant Transformation** **Technique)!"** the bamboo flower started to grow. The stem grew very long and a point formed at the end of it. The leaves grew out and formed a cross guard.

To say Naruto was disappointed, though he didn't show it, would be an understatement, 'It looks like a damn sword…' He began to rub the dull edge… 'It doesn't even have a sharp edge…' He began rubbing the top of it and cut his finger on the point, 'The point is sharp…but what good is it without an edge?' All and all…it looked like a piece of bamboo…with the leaves acting like a USELESS cross guard. 'Hmmm…' He decided to flip the sword upside down, stabbing the point against the bridge, and started doing hand seals again, this time adding some of Kyuubi's chakra to it… **"Mokuton Hijutsu: Shokubutsu Henkan no jutsu!" **

This time the sword changed more drastically. Like all other plants that he changed with Kyuubi's chakra, this plant change purple. The round 'blade' started to flatten, growing a sharp edge on one side, and curving slightly. The 'hilt' was still round allowing one to hold it. The leaves of the 'cross guards' changed into long thorns. Naruto smirked, 'Now that's a sword…wait! Why am I even thinking about this…' He thought, fingering the wakizashi on his belt… 'I already have a sword…and I have no idea how to use it effectively…why am I worrying about this?' Naruto shrugged and dispelled the jutsu, the bamboo sword changing back into a bamboo plant. He sighed and glanced over at his two teammates. Sakura turned away, she was probably checking out the 'sword'. Sasuke, Sharingan blazing, was glaring daggers at him and growling. Naruto's smile widened, ever since he unlocked the sharingan, Sasuke had been trying to copy Naruto's mokuton techniques, only to fail each time.

"YO!" Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke.

"YOUR LATE!" yelled an enraged Sakura…

Kakashi shrugged, "Sorry I'm late…I'm afraid I got-" but he was cut off.

"-Lost on the path of life…" Naruto finished for him…

"Hn! You were probably also helping a little old lady cross the street." Sasuke added…

"Her cat was probably being attacked by an S-rank missing-nin as well." Muttered Sakura…

Kakashi blinked, "Uhhh…yea something like that…Anyway here!" He pulled out three slips of paper… "I've decided to enter the three of you in the chunin exams…"

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened…Sakura was a little downheartened.

'Am…I ready for this?' questioned the scared Kunoichi.

'…This'll be a chance to fight ninja from other villages…as well as my own…' Sasuke thought with a smirk.

'Finally…all I have to do is get through this and impress the judges…then I can finally leave…' Naruto thought with a…smile!

"The choice to enter is your choice and yours alone…it won't hurt your teammates if you decide not to enter. The information is on the sheets." With that Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The three nins disappeared in a puff of smoke.

_---Somewhere in the village---_

Naruto was walking down the streets, smiling at the villagers as usual. He noticed something following him though…it was…a square rock…

"Come out Konahamaru…"

The square rock stopped moving and exploded, sending smoke everywhere…the smoke cleared to reveal goggle wearing kids, two boys and one girl…They were all coughing. When they stopped, they looked up at Naruto. All three blinked before going into a weird pose.

"I'm Moegi! The sassiest Kunoichi in pre-school!"

"I like Algebra! I am Udon!"

"And I am the toughest ninja in the village! My name is…Konahamaru!"

"And we are…The Konahamaru Ninja Corps!" The three ninja chorused.

Naruto sighed, "What do you three want…"

Moegi ran up to Naruto, "Boss…you said that you would play ninja with us…" She said with tears in her eyes…

Naruto sighed, "Fine…how about a game of hide and seek…you guys run away and hide…then I'll go find you." 'Maybe…After Ramen…'

"YAY!" the youngsters chorused and ran away…they ran around the corner.

Naruto shrugged and started walking the opposite direction until he heard something, "OW! LITTLE BRAT!"

"HEY LET ME GO!" He could hear Konahamaru scream.

Naruto turned towards the noise…he then shrugged and turn back around, 'He'll be fine-'

"I'LL TEACH YOU A LESSON!"

Naruto froze at that… 'Damn it…' He turned and walked over to wear he heard the rukus… He saw a boy in black holding onto Konahamaru. Moege and Udon cowering a few feet away from them. And a Blonde girl with a large fan on her back. The teens were both wearing Sand hitai-ate

"Ok…I don't really want to deal with any of this so I'll only say this once…While I agree that the kid your holding is indeed a brat…he's also the Hokages grandson…" Naruto explained to the black clothed boy.

The boy and the girl's eyes widened, "Damn it Kankuro! I don't want any trouble so put him down!"

Kankuro dropped Konahamaru. The boy ran back and hid behind Naruto, as did Moegi and Udon.

"Good move…cause I'm pretty sure there are a few ANBU constantly watching the brat…probably waiting until you actually hit him…"

Kankuro sneered at the smiling blonde, "And who the hell are you?"

Naruto shrugged, "No one of any importance…" Naruto turned and started walking away, the three youngsters in front of him…

Kankuro growled, 'You…' Kankuro reached for a bandaged thing on his back. He froze when he felt a rock hit him on the head, Naruto and the kids paused at that point as well. They all turned to see Sasuke, sitting on a tree branch, bouncing a rock on his hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…he may dress like an idiot…but he's pretty tough…" Sasuke smirked.

Kankuro glared at Sasuke.

Temari stepped in, "Enough Kankuro!"

"Enough…" spoke a cold voice from out of nowhere. It seemed to freeze Kankuro and Temari.

Sasuke turned his head to see a red headed boy behind him. 'I didn't even feel him behind me…'

The boy disappeared in a swirl of sand and reappeared in front of Kankuro… "You're an embarrassment…lets go…now!"

Konahamaru, who was still cowering behind Naruto, yelled, "And just who the hell are you!"

Gaara turned, ignoring Konahamaru and looking straight at the smiling blonde, 'Shukaku…why are you reacting to him…' "My name…is Gaara no Subaku (Gaara of the Desert)…I'm curious about you to…"

**"Hmmm…something odd about this kid…wonder what it is…WAIT…isn't there something I should be remembering…something about demons in Wind country?"**

'How the hell should I know…I'm not in charge of your memory…'

**"Hmmm…Oh well…it probably isn't anything life threatening…"**

Naruto's smile widened, "My name…is Naruto…no Hayashi (Naruto of the Forest)!"

Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment… 'Naruto of the forest…that's a new one…though I suppose it is fitting…'

Gaara stared at Naruto for a moment… 'That smile…I'll enjoy destroying it…'

With that…Gaara turned and walked away…Kankuro and Temari behind him…

"Hn…we sure are meeting a bunch of freaks lately…" Sasuke mused as he turned to his smiling teammate… 'But then again…you're not that ordinary yourself…'

_---Naruto's apartment---_

Naruto was walking to his door when he heard something, "Hello Naruto-san…"

Naruto turned to see Haku walk out the door next to his. Naruto nodded to her…

"Late for work…I'll see you later…"

Haku ran off in the direction of the hospital… When the group returned to Konaha…Kakashi asked the third if he could place Haku among their ranks…unfortunately there weren't any openings in the teams…so Haku took a job in the hospital nearby. The Third had promised to put her on a genin team after the chunin exam.

Naruto always becomes a little unnerved by Haku…He assisted in killing her master…hell he even stopped her from saving him…but she was always nice to him…He mused with the thoughts that she was just trying to get close enough to him to kill him…He shrugged it off though…

Naruto walked inside.

_---The next day--- _

Naruto was standing in the middle of a forest. He was holding Moegi in his arms. Konahamaru and Udon were standing a few feet behind him. There was a giant root in front of him holding a man with a rain hitai-ate…

Naruto smiled widely… "I guess I'll take you the ANBU…"

The rain-nins eyes widened and in a puff of smoke, Iruka was in the place of the rain-nin…

"You were far to careless Iruka-sensei…"

Iruka smiled at the boy, "I suppose I did get careless…you were never suppose to catch me…but now that you have…you should know that this was all a test…and you can let me go now…"

Naruto seemed to think this over for a few seconds, "Hmmm…Nah…"

Iruka's eyes widened, "Na-ru-to?"

"You still attacked a citizen of leaf", He said indicating Moegi, "So…I think I'll take your to ANBU anyway…I hear they have a interesting interrogator…"

Iruka nearly choked, 'Is he talking about Ibiki?" Iruka started struggling like a wild animal. He finally managed to free both his hands to perform Kawarimi. Iruka was replaced with a log.

Naruto shrugged.

Moegi pouted, "Why did Iruka do this…"

Naruto shrugged, "Some kind of test…even after I graduate he's still testing me…sadist…"

_---Examination Building--- _

Naruto walked up to the building where they would be taking the exam. When he walked in…he was surprised to see Sasuke on the ground, Sakura crouched over him… There was this kid wearing a green eyesore talking to a…a…turtle…

He walked over to his teammates. "Sorry I'm late…I think Kakashi is rubbing off on me…"

Sakura and Sasuke looked at him before turning back to the kid and the turtle.

Naruto nearly dropped his smile, 'Forget my earlier thoughts…this kid IS an eye sore…'

**"I bet he goes commando…"**

'Would you drop the underwear subject…'

The turtle yelled, "Get ready because…hear comes Gai-sensei…" The turtle disappeared in a puff of smoke, the smoke cleared to reveal the man that looks almost exactly like the boy.

"Lee…" the man said as he punched the boy. "Never show your best Jutsu unless it's an emergency…" He looked at the group in front of him… "So…your Kakashi's team…how's he been?"

Sakura spoke first, "You know Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yep…in fact…people say that we…ARE ETERNAL RIVALS!"

'He's kidding…right…' thought Sasuke…

"LEE!-"

At this point Naruto decided to tune out there random babbling and started replaying plant effects in his head…

_---Examination Room---_

Naruto was sitting in a desk taking a test… There were sentrys all around them to prevent cheating. He glanced to his right to see that weird girl… 'I think her name is Hinata…'

He started glancing around the room, careful to avoid eyeing the test papers…Many of the students were glaring at their test papers…obviously they didn't know how to answer the questions…

He looked at one student, a seat in front of him and one seat to the left, who was rushing through the exams. 'Wait…haven't I seen that guy before…last time I saw him though…he was wearing a chunin vest though…did he get demoted…'

He looked around… 'Wait! If we get caught cheating…we'll lose 2 points…why? Normally when you get caught cheating…we get thrown out right away…unless…the point of this exam is to cheat…but not get caught!' He looked at the boy he was staring at before, 'I need to cheat off of that guy and not get caught…but how…'

Naruto's thinking was unfortunately being distracted by an idiot in front of him. He was balancing a pencil on his nose… Finally it happened a kunai came from one of the sentries, splitting the pencil in half…

"HEY!"

"Your not here to screw around…either get to work or leave…" growled the one and only Ibiki Morino…

Naruto's eyes widened…as he looked around the room. Everyone had their eyes glued on Ibiki and the kid… He turned back to the kid who had just finished his exam. 'That's what I'll do…'

He pulled two coins out of his pocket. Putting one in each hand. He started flipping them into the air, waiting. Finally two kunai flew out of nowhere catching each of the coins, sending each to a side of the room. It had the exact effect he wanted. Everyone, including the sentries, turned to see the kunais on there side of the room, luckily Naruto was at about the center of the room.

'NOW! **HAYASHI SHUUSHUKU**!' Vines extended from his bracelet grabbing the corner of the boys paper, the one who finished his exam. Naruto quickly retracted the vines and brought the boy's paper to his desk, crumpling his own paper and sticking it in his jacket. He quickly erased the boys name, and wrote his own. He then started looking around…no one noticed what he did. He looked to the front of the room to see the examiner glaring at him. 'SHIT! HE SAW ME!' Naruto grimaced inwardly. Ibiki however, merely smirked at Naruto and looked away.

Naruto sighed and started looking around again. He saw one pair of Sharingan eyes looking at him and a pair of Byakkugan eyes. The Sharingan eyes belonged to Sasuke, who was smirking at Naruto. The Byakkugan eyes belonged to a boy with long brown hair.

"HEY!" screamed the boy who had only just noticed that his paper was missing.

"SHUT UP MAGGOT! NEXT TIME YOU DON'T GET AN EXAM PAPER, MENTION IT BEFORE HAND! OTHERWISE I'LL THROW YOU OUT!" yelled Ibiki as he slammed a paper on the kids desk. The sentrys were looking at Ibiki with confusion etched on their faces.

Naruto shrugged and waited until the final question showed up…he didn't have to wait long…

_---Thirty minutes later---_

They had to choose whether or not to take the final question…

If they didn't take the question they failed the exam…

If they did take the question and missed it…they would never be allowed to take the exams again.

Naruto shrugged the question off. 'I've gotten this far already…in the end it doesn't matter…if I'm never allowed to become a chunin then I'll become a missing-nin once I become strong enough…'

Ibiki looked around the moment he saw that no one else was quitting… "You all pass!"

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**A/N: Hope you like this update...because i have no idea when the next one will come (school is starting soon...plus i NEED to update my other fic)...**

** I got a review saying that i should do an overly happy Gaara...its funny because i WAS planning to do a Gaara fic (with Gaara acting like Naruto...but i kind of thought that that would be kind of retarded...Gaara running around screaming he'll be the next Kazekage (though hell...he does)**

**My other idea was a Hinata fic...with Hinate and Neji's positions in reverse. Hinata (and probably Hanabi) being in the Branch house...and Neji being in the Main house...I'm going to attempt this fic at one point (In the distant future)...see how it works out...though at the moment i'm just wasting my time ranting...**

**Until next time...**

** REVIEW!  
**


	7. Enter the First of the Legendary Three!

**Disclaimor: Don't own Naruto.**

** A/N: Ok...fans of my other fic...feel free to flame me...I've been taking far to long in updating it...problem is that I've just gotten way too into this story.**

**Btw...you should know that i've decided that i will be changining this story much (so don't complain to me later on, because I KNOW i'm changing the story)...but you all should know that... **

**Btw...some people are confused...first off...the pairing will be a **

**Naruto/Female Haku (I'm sorry to those of you who don't like that pairing...or who wanted one of the others)**

**Keep in mind that pairings WILL NOT be important until WAY LATER, into the story...i'm thinking FAR after Sasuke Retreival arc...**

**I've also decided...like i said...I'm still adding Rei as a sisterly figure (why not). Probably the same with Sakura.**

**Another poll at the bottom.  
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**Chapter 7: Enter the First of the Legendary Three.**

"WATCH OUT SASUKE!"

Sasuke dodged to the left, jumping from one tree branch to the next, just in time to avoid a flurry of shurikan.

He paused for a moment to glare at his opponent, the woman who wore a grass Hitai-ate. Sasuke glanced over to where Sakura was hiding and then back towards the grass-nin.

The woman jumped at Sasuke, and the two started fighting with Taijutsu.

'Damn it…how the hell did we get in this mess?'

_---Flashback---_

Team 7 were standing in the middle of a clearing. They had just chased away a rain-nin, whom had snuck into the group using a **henge** of Naruto.

_Sasuke growled, "This can't happen again…here's what we're going to do. We're going to create a password that only the three of us will know…"_

_Naruto and Sakura both nodded._

"_Sasuke-kun! That's a great idea-"_

_She was cut off as a large gust of wind hit the three ninjas…_

_The three members of team 7 were blown into the trees, where they grabbed on for dear life. Naruto was the first to let go, and he was blown away, high into the air._

"_NARUTO!" screamed Sakura…_

_A few moments later, Sakura and Sasuke both let go of the trees, each going a different direction. Luckily, at the time that the two remaining members of team 7 let go…the wind started to die down, so they didn't go to far._

_Sasuke landed on the ground with a painful thud. After a few moments he jumped to his feet and looked at his surroundings. He was surrounded in forest. He quickly started moving, in search of his lost comrades or for whoever it was that attack them._

_Moments later he came upon a clearing where he saw his lost pink-haired teammate. 'Damn it…we didn't have a chance to come up with a password…'_

_She moaned in pain as she started to lift herself off the ground…She looked up and saw Sasuke, holding a kunai… "Sasuke-kun?"_

"_Shut up! I'll only ask this once. The first day we became a team…I discussed with the three of you my ambitions…there were two of them…what were they…" Sasuke sneered, clutching his kunai harder._

_Sakura was a little disturbed, 'He may think that I'm an enemy…' "You wanted to rebuild you clan and kill somebody…" She said remembering what Sasuke said, a long with every single other detail that she could dig up about him…_

_Sasuke nodded and lowered his Kunai. "We better go find Naruto…keep your guard up though-" Sasuke paused when he heard something whizzing through the air. He leapt forward, grabbed Sakura, and jumped into the trees, just in time to avoid a flurry of kunai that fell on Sakura's last position._

_Sasuke and Sakura both jumped back to the ground. Suddenly something came out of the trees and landed right in front of Sasuke and Sakura. It was the woman, a grass-nin, who gave back the kunai of the second examiner, using a super long tongue._

_Sasuke glared at the nin, before launching himself at her. The grass-nin dodged Sasuke, and jumped high into the trees. Sasuke followed, as did Sakura. Sasuke looked around for the grass-nin. 'Damn it…where is she…' He concentrated chakra to his eyes, 'SHARINGAN!' He activated his blood limit. The second he did though, he heard Sakura yell._

"_WATCH OUT SASUKE!"_

_---End Flashback---_

'Damn it…where the hell is Naruto when you need him?'

_---Somewhere in the forest---_

Naruto lifted himself off the ground…

'Must've fainted after I hit the ground…' Naruto looked up and nearly choked. In front of him was a giant Snake. The snake snapped at Naruto. Naruto, luckily, managed to jump to his feet and avoid the snake's maw.

Naruto grabbed some shurikan and launched him at the snake. The snake, easily, took the hits and shook them off. The snake launched his tail at the snake. Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't fast enough to avoid the hit and was slammed into a tree…

'Figures I would end up with the giant snake…'

_---Sasuke---_

Sasuke launched shurikans, with wires attached, at the grass-nin. He managed to tie the grass-nin against a tree, the wires cutting into her body. He started doing handseals **"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)!"** Sasuke blasted a large torrent of fire along the wires and engulfed the grass-nin.

Sasuke dropped to his knees, breathing hard, 'Finally…'

"SASUKE!"

Sasuke's head snapped up to see the 'Grass-nin' walk out of the flames and then turn into mud.

'A MUD CLONE!'

_---Naruto---_

Naruto was sent flying into another tree. No matter what he did, he couldn't damage the giant snake. He had attempted to send roots at the giant snake; which only led to the snake swerving around the roots. He had attempted using his demon plants; however the snake quickly tore through those. He had even attempted using **HAYASHI SHUUSHUKU.** It didn't work though.

At the moment, he had multiple scratches and bruises all over his body; though they were healing, do to Kyuubi.

"**Do something you idiot!"**

'DO YOU HAVE ANY BRIGHT IDEAS!'

"**Concentrate some of my chakra into your bracelet…but make sure to stay in control."**

'…Stay in control…why do I have a feeling you're about to screw me over…'

**"You really should be more trusting…"**

'Shut up…' Naruto, however, did as he was told and started concentrating demonic chakra into his Moon leaves…

He glared at the snake, blood from a head injury seeping into his eyes. The bracelet started to glow a blood red.

For the first time in a long time, he let his smile fall. "AAAAHHHHHH!" He launched his arm at the direction of the snake, an explosion of red and purple shot from the bracelet. Stems grew in length, and the leaves grew much larger. The plant engulfed the snake.

The snake attempted to fight off the plant, but was unable to fight the plant off. It suddenly howled in pain, and Naruto could hear something that sounded like teeth sinking into flesh.

Naruto looked the dark purple plant over and managed to see one of the leaves that hadn't attached itself to the snake. It had a large mouth and razor sharp teeth. 'Is it trying to eat the snake?'

"**Of course not…what kind of screwed up plant would try to EAT a snake…it's trying to suck it's blood out-"**,Kyuubi paused for a moment, **"IDIOT! GET THE MOON LEAVES OFF YOUR WRIST! GET THEM OFF NOW!"**

Naruto didn't wait to be told twice, He ripped the leaves off of his wrist and threw them on the ground. More large stems started to grow from the bracelet, as well as large leaves. The leaves attacked the young Kitsune, who quickly jumped away.

Naruto jumped onto a tree branch. The snake landed on the ground with a thud, the plant still engulfing it, sucking it's blood.

"**Kyuuketsu Shokubutsu (Bloodsucking plant)",** spoke Kyuubi. **"It'll suck the blood out of anything that it can get a hold of…"**

The remaining leaves attached themselves to the snake…

'Something seems so grotesque about all of this…'

**"Keep watching…"**

The giant snake suddenly disappeared and the plant curled into a tight ball. The plant started to glow red and purple again. Finally a large stem, much larger than the others, grew from the center. A large Rose grew from this stem and the rest of the plant turned into a bluish green color.

'Hmmm…'

**"Lovely flower…"**

'Never thought you'd be one to appreciate a flower.'

"**When a plant sucks the blood from it's victim to bloom…it seems more appealing."**

'Interesting…'

"**By the way…did you bring another Moon Leaf bracelet with you?"**

Naruto shook his head, 'I haven't gotten around to making another bracelet…'

"**Idiot…I guess it can't be helped…"**

'The snake…it disappeared…how? Why?'

"**It was a summoned spirit…someone in this forest has possession of the Snake Contract…I wonder who it is…"**

Naruto turned, 'I better get back to the others…' Naruto jumped off, placing the same eerie smile on his face.

_---Sasuke---_

The grass-nin, who had a portion of its face torn off, revealing pale skin and a yellow, slitted, eye, slammed Sasuke against a tree. He/She held the Uchiha against the tree using only one hand. Just as quickly, the grass-nin, sunk his/her teeth into Sasuke's neck…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sasuke let out a blood-curdling yell, which could be heard all throughout the forest.

The grass-nin let go of Sasuke, letting him slump on the tree branch. He/She smiled before disappearing. 'The Uchiha will be mine.'

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura jumped onto the branch, and grabbed onto Sasuke… Sakura looked around frantically. "NARUTO! I NEED YOUR HELP…" Her answer was complete and total silence… "What am I suppose to do." Muttered the pink-haired ninja.

She sat there, with Sasuke resting against her lap, until she heard a familiar chakra signature nearby…

_---Naruto---_

Naruto landed in a clearing. 'I can feel Sakura's chakra signature up ahead…stupid girl…she'll get herself killed that way…she should be concealing it…'

"Naruto-kun…"

Naruto's eyes widened as he suddenly started looking around…

"Do you hate Konahagakure?"

Naruto's face became a smile once again, as he stopped looking around, "Congratulations captain obvious…what do you want…a fucking medal?"

The voice seemed to ignore the comment… "I've been watching you Naruto-kun…I saw you in the first exam…your abilities over plants is amazing…"

"And let me guess…you want me to give you myself…you want my abilities…isn't that right?"

The voice chuckled, "Of course…in return I'll give you revenge against these pathetic fools…the ones who shun you…hate you…treat you like dirt…despise you for just being alive…"

Naruto seemed to think this over, "No thanks…"

"You should reconsider…the village hurt me…much like it hurt you…I should've been the fourth Hokage…but instead they make that fool the fourth…if I had been the Hokage…I would never even dream of using you as the host…I would've beaten the Kyuubi with my own abilities…"

Naruto chuckled…

"Don't leave me in the dark…what's so funny?"

"You are…and this village. You should come back to the village…and ask for forgiveness…"

The voice growled, "And why would I do that…"

"You're both so pathetic…you left this village…for the soul purpose of obtaining revenge against it…you blame the Fourth because he received the title over you…", Naruto started, "This village is the same way…they blame me…because they were far to weak to defeat the Kyuubi and there for lost so many…They consider me a relic of the past, just because I am the vessel for the Kyuubi no Kitsune…the fact of the matter is that you two were made for each other…" Naruto smiled inwardly when he heard a low growl. "I on the other hand, am better than that…better than these moronic villagers and better than you…when I leave, I LEAVE…I won't return to seek vengeance…Because I'm above that…" Naruto finished.

Naruto could hear the voice growl some more…before suddenly stopping. "Kukukuku...Naruto…your such a silly little boy…I will have you…and I will have your little friend Sasuke…unfortunately…my time is up."

Naruto sighed, 'What a hassle…' He heard something. He turned to see none other than his pink-haired teammate, her eyes as large as plates, staring at the blonde…

'I guess she heard us…' He mused as he walked over to her…He heard something else.

He turned to see the purple-haired second examiner come out of the trees…She clenched her fist, "Damn you…I'll get you Orochimaru…" she muttered before going back into the trees.

He turned back to Sakura, who was still looking at him in horror… "So you heard…huh?"

Sakura didn't even move…she didn't even speak.

"What do you have to say about it…" He was kind of enjoying this…the fact that she shouldn't answer him…

She was against a tree. He placed his hand next to her head and moved his face close to hers… "Here's the quick version. Yondaime, and the rest of these morons, were far to weak to stand up against the Nine-tailed fox…" He paused for a moment when he noticed that her mouth was wide open, probably from the mention that the Fourth was too weak to DEFEAT the fox. He reached over and closed her mouth for her. "Don't gawk like that…makes you look like a fish. Anyway…like I was saying…the fourth couldn't defeat the Demon…So they decided to sacrifice a small child, they sealed it into that child. And if that wasn't enough…the child had to deal with the fact, that everyone in the village hated him…for something that he didn't even control…" He paused for a moment to look at Sakura…she still looked terrified, "Twelve years later…that child makes a deal with the third Hokage…if he becomes a chunin…then he gets to leave the village… permanently if he so wishes…so…help me win this exam…and I'll leave forever…"

"Y-y-y-y-y-ye-ye-ye-s-s-s"

Naruto sighed, "You do know I can easily kill you right now right?"

Sakura paled, but managed a small nod…

"Then why don't I?"

Sakura…slowly shook her head, indicating that she didn't know.

"Because I don't want to…" Naruto said simply, "No reason to kill you…"

Sakura sighed at this…

"Whether you believe that I'm Naruto…or the Kyuubi is your own damn business…I really don't give a damn…" Naruto muttered, "Alright Story times over…next time I'll tell you how I received 'THE TALK'." 'One Hokage, three male clan heads, twenty bottles of sake, and three hours later…before they finally asked a woman to explain it to me, she did it in like five minutes, are men pathetic or what?' Naruto heard laughing in his head. "Where's Sasuke…"

Sakura gestured to a direction, obviously still terrified…

Naruto walked over there…

_---Hours later---_

Sakura was sitting next to Sasuke's prone body. She was thinking about Naruto… 'He's the demon fox. No wait…he's just the vessel…OH I DON'T KNOW! Why didn't they tell us about this…why did they lie to us…' Sakura heard something appear. It was a squirrel, running towards one of her hidden traps. She threw a kunai in front of it, sending it running away. 'I have to protect Sasuke-kun until…until…until Naruto…comes back…'

"Useless little girl…"

Sakura turned towards the voice to see the three sound nins.

_---Naruto---_

Naruto was jumping from tree to tree… 'The grass nin that Sasuke was fighting must have been this Orochimaru person, that the second examiner mentioned about…Sakura said that the grass-nin slapped our scroll away, when Sasuke had attempted to give it to her…it only makes sense that it would be Orochimaru…what did he want?'

Naruto was looking around…there food supplies were low…and he decided to try and find some fruit. He was also hopping to find some Moon leaves for a second bracelet. He had no luck.

He heard what sounded like an explosion. He turned around to face the direction… 'Damn it…that sounds like the direction where Sakura and Sasuke are…' Naruto launched himself.

_---Team 7's hiding spot---_

Naruto reached a tree that was close to the clearing. Naruto peered inside the clearing. He saw Team 10; Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji; The sound team; that freak who was talking to the turle; and Sakura, who now had short hair. The sound girl, Ino, Chouji, The green clad ninja, and the sound girl were all down…

Naruto did the necessary handseals…lets see how that freak likes this.

Dosu was closing in on Sakura, ready to kill the young girl. Suddenly something exploded from the ground and latched right onto his groin. Dosu's eyes widened and he let out a bloodcurdling scream, "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Zaku, Lee, Shikamaru, and Chouji all felt sympathy for the sound-nin; the latter two experiencing the same pain from Ino almost on a daily basis.

Naruto jumped into the clearing right behind Zaku, smirking, as his plant disabled Dosu.

Zaku turned toward Naruto and glared.

They all suddenly felt something. They turned to see a Hyuuga…and a girl with two buns, up in the trees…

Zaku looked around, but then suddenly felt something behind him. He turned to see Sasuke, glowing purple, with black, flame-like, tattoos all over his body.

Sasuke growled, "Your hurt Sakura…who did that to you…"

Sakura was terrified again, 'What kind of group am I in?'

Zaku laughed, "It was me…"

Sasuke appeared behind Zaku… "Your pretty proud of these arms…aren't you?" He grabbed both of Zaku's arms, and put his foot on his back and started pushing.

"STOP"

CRACK

Both Zaku's arms broke.

Sasuke let Zaku go, letting the boy slump on the ground.

He turned around to see Dosu get back up. Sasuke smirked and walked towards the sound-nin, when suddenly he felt to pairs of arms wrap around him… "Please don't…please don't…"

Seeing Sakura's tear stricken face made Sasuke revert back to normal…

Dosu pulled out a heaven scroll. "Let us go…and you can have the scroll…"

'We already have that scroll', thought Naruto… 'Oh well couldn't hurt to have two.' "Put it down…and leave…"

Dosu turned towards Naruto and growled, "I won't be forgetting you…we'll meet again…"

He dropped the scroll…grabbed Kin and Zaku…and left.

Naruto picked up the scroll. He turned to see Team 10 up again, checking each other for serious injury. Sakura was looking over Sasuke, who seemed to be brooding. And the two nins who appeared recently seemed to be checking out bushy brows.

"Lee you idiot…you need to be careful", scolded to Hyuuga.

"Sorry Neji…sorry Tenten…" Lee started checking his pockets and slightly pulled out an Earth scroll…

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, 'An Earth Scroll! Hmmm…But they wouldn't…worth a shot.' Naruto mused as he walked over to Lee's group.

"Hey Lee…that Earth Scroll…it's not the only one you got…is it?"

Team Gai turned towards Naruto, "How did you know that", muttered Lee, before being jabbed by Neji…

"What's it to you?"

Naruto smiled, "I have two Heaven Scrolls…you have two Earth Scrolls…we trade one…we both leave happy…"

Neji glared and smirked, "And what if I just defeat you and take both your scrolls…"

"You don't seem like the type to waste energy…not without it being necessary…", Naruto replied…

Neji smirked, "Fine…"

Naruto and Neji traded a scroll.

Lee got up, "How did you know that we had two Earth Scrolls?"

Naruto's smile widened, "Simple…that guy…", pointing to Neji, "…Seems an awful lot like that guy", pointing to Sasuke, "…and that guy…" pointing once again to Sasuke, "…would never trust YOU…", pointing to Rock Lee, "…with his team's scroll…unless they had an extra."

With that Naruto walked away.

Lee looked confused, Tenten glared at Naruto, and Neji…seemed to be smirking…

Naruto returned to his team, holding both scrolls. "We're done…let's get to that tower…"

_---The next day---_

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were standing outside of the tower…just in time to…they were almost out of time…

All three of them walked in…

'Finally…just a few more tests and I'll be free…'

'A chance to fight more foes…to test how far I've come…'

Sakura was the only one not cheerful, 'Naruto…has a demon in him…and Sasuke has been cursed by that grass-nin…what kind of situation am I in?'

**--------------------------------------------------------------**

**A/N: Hope you like it...**

**The idea of a snapping plant, coming from the ground, and biting someones groin was actually submitted by a reviewer (i don't remember who...and i'm to lazy to look for the person...You know who you are...)  
**

** I'm opening another poll...who will fight Naruto in the preliminaries...**

**1) Kiba**

**2) Dosu**

**3) Zaku**

**These are the only choices i'm including...**

**Please _REVIEW_ (underlined...italics...caps...OBEY THE WORD! OBEY!)  
**


	8. the Preliminaries…

**Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N: Ok...sorry for slow update...**

**The winnder of the poll was**

**DOSU! (poor poor Dosu...)**

**Dosu: 20**

**Kiba: 14**

**Zaku: 1 (Loser)**

**...Once agian i may have mis-counted...but it wasn't enough of a mis-count to count again (I hate counting...)**

**1)Oh...i've been gettin' complaints that i'm not putting enough detail...that was on purpose...i kind of find the beggining boring (which is why i've kind of rushed through it) though i do add my own twists to it...I know it's unproffession but...yea...I'm going to slow down cosiderably now...**

**2) ...GEEZ...I'VE BEEN Misspelling Uzumaki (with Uzamaki) and Choji (with Chouji) for a while now...lol...just noticed.  
**

** On with the fic (IMPORTANT AUTHURS NOTE AT THE BOTTOM)  
**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------- **

**Chapter 8: the Preliminaries…**

"**SHISHI RENDAN (LION COMBO)"**

Sasuke started performing a complicated aerial combo on Yoroi, doing a serious of powerful kicks, which little by little is sending Yoroi towards the ground. He finishes the combo with one kick, which slams the older ninja against the arena floor.

Gekko Hayate raises his right arm. "The winner of the first match is Sasuke Uchiha!"

This caused a series of loud cheers from certain people in this crowd…Sakura and Ino…

Sasuke made his way back up the stands, but was intercepted by his sensei. "Let's go Sasuke…"

Sasuke nodded towards his sensei…and the two disappeared…

Unseen by everyone, sans the Hokage, the Jounin-sensei of the Sound team…also disappeared.

Naruto stared at the board, waiting for his name to be called. Though he would never admit it, or show it, he was anxious to fight…

Sakura looked at the bored, terrified of what they would reveal. She was even more horrified by her teammate… It took every ounce of her will power to stop herself from yelling out that Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him…she probably would have mentioned it to Sasuke…but Naruto was always around and she never got any time alone with the Uchiha. Right now, all she wanted to do was have a LONG talk with either the Third or with Kakashi. But first she had to deal with the problem of getting through her match alive, 'Why do I have to be so weak.'

The board stopped.

"No…." moaned an anxious Rock Lee…who was not only anxious to fight, but was making sure that EVERYONE knew that he was anxious to fight.

'Hn…'

Shino Aburame vs Choji Akimichi

_---Somewhere in the Tower---_

"**Fūja Hōin (Evil Sealing Method)!" **Yelled the Copy Ninja as the seals written on the floor, and on Sasuke's body, started crawling towards the cursed seal. The markings made a circle around the Cursed Seal. All the while, Sasuke was writhing and howling in pain. When it finally stopped, Sasuke was on the floor, unconscious.

"There…that should prevent the cursed seal from taking control of you again…but in the end, it'll all depend on your will power Sasuke."

"Very good Kakashi…but that won't last long…" spoke a voice from the shadows.

Kakashi snapped in the direction of the voice and glared into the shadows… "Who's there…"

Orochimaru stepped out of the shadows. "Good evening Kakashi-kun…"

"Orochimaru…" growled the copy nin as he pulled out a kunai. "What do you want with Sasuke?"

"The Uchiha blood line of course…I thought that would have been obvious…" Orochimaru smiled at Kakashi… "Recently though…he's not my only target…I also want one of your other students…"

Kakashi looked confused for a moment…but his eyes snapped wide open… "Naruto…you want to continue your insane experiments…the ones that gave Yamato his abilities…"

Orochimaru nodded…

"You will not go near him…" spoke a voice from behind Orochimaru…

"Rin-chan…I was wonderering when you'd make yourself known…"

Rin growled as she pulled out her ANBU sword, 'I shouldn't be surprised that he sensed me…traitor or not…he was one of the Sannin…'

Kakashi started doing handseals. "**Raikiri!"** he yelled….as lightning energy charged in his right hand, as his left hand held his wrist.

Orochimaru smiled at Kakashi, "Like I told Anko…cancel the exam and I'll destroy your village…but I add another warning…pull Sasuke or Naruto from the exams and I'll destroy the village anyway…" With that Orochimaru disappeared.

Kakashi sighed and released his **Raikiri**…Rin sheathed her sword and walked over to Kakashi… "These two are in danger…I wonder what sensei would do in this situation…"

Kakashi sighed…Rin became distressed when Kakashi didn't answer her…

_---Arena---_

Shino just dodge another **Nikudan Sensha (Meat Tank).** He had been dodging Choji's attacks the whole time.

Choji got out of his **Nikudan Sensha **and turned to face Shino. Choji was panting. 'I'm running out of energy…damn it…I have to try it again…' Choji did the necessary hand seals… "**Nikudan Sensha!**" Choji's arms and legs went inside of his clothes as the boy ballooned up…He started rolling at high speeds towards the bug ninja…

Shino dodged again, but this time he wasn't able to get away completely, resulting in him getting knocked back and landing on the ground with a hard thud.

Choji came out of his roll and practically jumped with joy… 'Alright now…' **"Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Multi-Size Technique)!"**

He launched a giant hand at the bug ninja and grabbed Shino with it…Shino smirked, though you wouldn't see it through his overcoat, and exploded into hundreds of bugs, which surrounded the Akimichi…

The Kikai bugs engulfed Choji and started to suck out his chakra. Instead of doing anything useful, though who knows what he could've done in that situation, Choji freaked out and started running around in circles screaming. Choji then tried rolling around on the ground. Shino appeared behind Choji, "They'll devour your chakra…give up and I'll stop them…keep fighting and you'll lose anyway…The choice is yours…"

"I GIVE UP!"

Shino recalled his bugs, slowly…and walked back towards the stands…

"The winner is Shino!"

Choji, slowly, started to move back towards the stand…

They all looked towards the screen again…

"ME! ME! PICK ME!" yelled Rock Lee.

Sabaku no Kankuro vs Misumi Tsurugi

_---About an Hour later---_

Naruto, and Lee, were still waiting impatiently for their turns.

Kankuro, or rather his puppet, easily defeated Misumi. Sakura and Ino fought next, both girls fought hard and last a long time against each other…proving how strong, or equally weak, the two Kunoichi really were. Shikamaru fought Kin, and easily outsmarted the girl, causing the girl to slam her head against the wall. Temari and Tenten were the next round, proving that there actually ARE great FEMALE Shinobi their age…Though Tenten put up a great fight, Temari was able to outclass her with little problems. The next match was Neji vs Hinata, Poor poor Hinata….though she was able to stand up to her superior cousin, something which Naruto admired, she wasn't able to even hurt the branch member of the Hyuuga…

Zaku vs Kiba

Zaku, Kiba, and Akamaru all went down the stairs, and towards the stadium.

Zaku and Kiba faced off. Kiba noticed that one of Zaku's arms was in a sling.

He smirked, 'Yes! He's still hurt from the second exam…I have this match down easy.'

"BEGIN!"

Kiba's hands went through a small chain of hand seals, **"Shikyaku no Jutsu (Four Legs Technique)!"** Kiba's nails lengthened into claws as he went down on his hands and legs. He lunged at Zaku with every intent to tear the sound nin apart.

Zaku quickly extended his right arm, the one that wasn't in a sling, and yelled, **"Zankuha!" **A blast of pure sound energy exploded from Zaku's hand and blasted Kiba away.

Kiba growled as he landed on the ground.

"Stupid mutt! You think something as pathetic as that will beat me?" laughed Zaku.

Kiba got up, just as Akamaru came up to him…Kiba reached into a pouch and pull out a pill. "Here Akamaru!" Kiba says as he flicks the dog the pill. Akamaru opens his mouth and takes the pill.

After Akamaru swallows the pill his fur begins to turn red. His chakra starts to flare up and in a puff of smoke; another Kiba appeared where Akamaru was just standing.

_---Up in the Stands---_

"Oh…damn it now there's two of them…", muttered Naruto, earning him a few giggles from the remaining members of the rookie nine, minus Shino…who never seems to laugh…

_---Kiba vs Zaku---_

Kiba and Akamaru, Henged as Kiba, lunged at Zaku. **"Gatsūga (Double Piercing Fang)!"** Kiba and Akamaru each spun into a razor sharp whirlwind, heading straight towards Zaku.

Zaku's eyes widened as he jumped out of the way just in time to avoid both whirlwinds. Kiba and Akamaru came out of their spin and turned around and preformed **Gatsūga** once again. Zaku jumped once again.

_---Hokage---_

The Hokage was sitting in his chair, with two ANBU, one on each side of him, when suddenly an ANBU appeared in front of him… "What is it Yamato?" asked the Hokage.

"I've just returned from the mission you sent me on…I though you'd like to know the results at the moment…" Yamato said, as he handed the Hokage an envelope…

The Hokage looked around to make sure no one was even paying attention to them…and the ninjas from other villages were to far away to listen in on them, even for ninja. The third nodded as he grabbed the letter, opened it, and read the contents… The third sighed, smiling. 'So the representatives of the Hayate clan will be coming in a weeks time.' "Thank you Yamato…that will be all…"

Yamato nodded as he disappeared.

_---Kiba vs Zaku---_

Zaku jumped away from another one of Kiba and Akamaru's attacks. This had been going on for a while. This time however, Kiba and Akamaru paused, both on either side of Zaku.

They both grinned, "Give up…and I won't have to kill you…"

Zaku sneered at him. "No way dog breath!"

Kiba smiled. "**Gatsūga!**" He screamed as both him and Akamaru lunged into another whirlwind, heading straight towards Zaku.

Zaku grinned as he pulled his left arm out of the sling, and pointed each hand at one of his opponents. "**Zankuha!**" He screamed as he blasted both combatants with an Airwave.

Kiba's eyes widened as he saw that BOTH of Zaku's hands worked. 'He tricked me!' were his last thoughts before the airwave knocked Kiba back. Akamaru, not being as strong as Kiba, was both knocked back and knocked out the moment he was slammed into the ground. Kiba was just knocked on the ground.

Kiba struggled to get back up, but froze when he heard Zaku yell, **"Zankukyokuha (Extreme Decapitating Air Waves!"**, and with that an enormous blast of air slammed into Kiba and knocked him into the wall.

Kiba groaned as he hit the wall, coughing up blood at the same time. A moment later Kiba landed on the ground.

Hayate raised his right arm, "The winner is Zaku Abumi!"

Zaku smirked as he walked back up the stairs.

_---Up in the Stands---_

Naruto noticed Kakashi appear behind him, "Took you long enough to come back…"

Kakashi shrugged, "I was a little caught up."

"How's Sasuke-kun, sensei?", asked Sakura.

"He'll be fine…he just needs some rest…did I miss any good fights?"

"Not really…they've all be rather one-sided…well…except for the fight between Sakura and Ino…", muttered Naruto.

"Really? How'd that go…that must've been exciting…"

"I said that it wasn't one-sided…I never said that it was exciting…", mutted the Kitsune…

Sakura glared at the grinning blonde and would have probably smacked him over the head, if it wasn't for the fact that he was either the Kyuubi incarnate or even just the container…

_---Ten minutes later---_

Sakura watched sadly as Rock Lee was hauled off, with a crushed arm and leg.

Naruto shook his head, 'In the end…you did show that you were capable of being strong Lee…'

**"BAH! Since when do you care about people of this village…"**

'I don't care…it's the simple fact that I respect how far he's come…even with all the handicaps he's been through. No more…no less'

"Will the remaining two fighters please come down!", yelled Gekko.

Naruto and Dosu both walked down towards the arena. The two faced off.

"BEGIN!"

Dosu growled, "I'm so glad that YOU are my opponent…I'LL GET MY REVENGE NOW!"

_---Up in the Stands---_

"Revenge? What is he talking about Sakura?" asked the confused copy-nin…

Sakura's face became cherry red, "Um-um…you see Naruto had one of…his biting plants…um…"

Shikamaru finished for her, "He had one of those plants bite down on Dosu's groin…"

This seemed to produce a similar reaction from all the men in the room, even the ones that were there when it happened, a grim and sympathetic one…

_---Naruto vs Dosu---_

Dosu launched himself at Naruto. Naruto lifted his right arm and then his eyes widened, 'I don't have my bracelet…'

**"You idiot…"**

Naruto jumped back just in time to avoid Dosu's main punch, but unfortunately was hit with the same sound waves that hit Kabuto before.

Naruto grimaced as his inner ear started to throb and his vision started to blur. Naruto landed a few feet back, crouching.

Dosu grinned, though you couldn't see it, "I'm going to kill you…unless you beg for forgiveness…"

Naruto was still on the ground kneeling a few feet before Dosu, 'Damn it…I can barely see…'

**"Because of my chakra your healing is increased dramatically…but you already know this…It'll probably take a few more moments before you get your eyesight back…"**

Naruto groaned, 'Only have one choice…ninja's number one weapon….' Naruto rose to his feet and slowly made his way towards Dosu, who was now holding a kunai…He kneeled before the Sound-nin, earning a gasp from the crowd around him…

Dosu smile and cross his arms over his chest, "I'm waiting…"

Naruto smirked, Dosu had let his guard down, "Dosu…FUCK OFF!" With that Naruto performed Lee's **Konoha Shōfū (Leaf Rising Wind)**, unfortunately Naruto, in his condition, was only able to knock Dosu back a few feet, unlike Lee or Sasuke who knocked there opponent into the air. However, the tactic bought him enough time to restore the damage done by Dosu's sound wave. Naruto started doing the hand seals, "**Tajū Bunshin no Jutsu! (Mass Clone Technique)!**"With that about fifty clones of Naruto materialized around the two combatants. Naruto jumped back, into the sea of clones.

Dosu growled as he regained his composure and started at all the Narutos.

One of them smirked, "In the future…just get your opponent to surrender…don't try to get them to beg for mercy you arrogant prick…"

Dosu growled as he launched himself at the one who just spoke. He threw a punch and connected with the Naruto, only to have him disappear the moment Dosu's fist connected. However, do to Dosu's amplifier, the five clones that were around the one who got hit, also disappeared.

"You missed me…" spoke another Naruto.

Dosu turned again and went after the second Naruto to speak, only to have him, and the six clones around him, disappear. Dosu didn't even wait for Naruto to speak; he just turned and launched himself at another set of clones.

Whilst this was going on, Naruto was busy pumping chakra into the ground. He'd need precise timing to do what he was about to do.

After destroying another four clones, Dosu landed in front of another Naruto, with five other around him. He pulled his fist back to attack, however was stopped when another Naruto, the real one, slid through the one he was about to hit, who was obviously a clone; Naruto stopped in front of the surprised Dosu, "Let's try this again!" he screamed as he gave Lee's **Konoha Shōfū** another shot, this time effectively knocking Dosu into the air. At the same time Naruto was doing a set of handseals, that Kakashi and Sakura knew all to well, "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Tajū Jukai Kōtan (Wood Release Secret Technique: Mass Birth of Dense Woodland)!**" With that, four roots burst out of the ground, flying as high Dosu, one of them slamming into his back. Dosu winced as the root hit him and he was knocked away from it.

He started to move towards the ground when an airborne Naruto suddenly appeared right in front of him. "**U!**", muttered Naruto as he punched Dosu in the stomach, knocking the wind out of the Sound-nin.

"**Zu!**", he threw a strong kick at Dosu, and launched him towards another one of the giant roots. Naruto, who was right next to one of the roots, kicked off, following Dosu's trajectory.

Dosu slammed into the root. He opened his eyes just in time to see Naruto hit him with an uppercut, "**Ma!**". Dosu was almost sure that his jaw was broken.

Naruto twisted above Dosu and deliver another powerful kick, right behind Dosu's shoulders, "**Ki!**" The kick launched Dosu straight towards the ground, and to right in the center of the square ring of roots.

Naruto kicked off the root he was right next to and flew out of the square ring, "**Naruto Rendan (Uzumaki Naruto Combo)!**" He yelled as he used his chakra to once again manipulate the roots. The four roots all turned downwards and flew at great speeds towards the Sound-nin. The four roots slammed right into the center of the ring and on Dosu, creating a screen of thick dust upon impact.

_---Up in the Stands---_

Kakashi grimaced at this, his eye shifted over to the Sound-Jounin…he growled when he saw that the man wasn't even concerned about his own student, but instead seemed to be staring and smiling at Naruto…

_---Naruto vs Dosu---_

Naruto landed, right next to Gekko.

Naruto's smile almost disappeared when he noticed something, "You moved…how disappointing…"

The crowd understood exactly what Naruto meant when the dust cleared… All four roots were slammed through the center and Dosu…was centimeters away from getting crushed…

Dosu was panting as he lifted himself off the ground…

Naruto, though he didn't show it, was a bit worried, 'That move wasted over half of my chakra…'

**"Hello…"**

Naruto's grin widened…

Dosu, finally having gotten up, was about to run towards the Leaf-nin. When suddenly two things burst out of the ground behind him. He turned just in time to see two purple flowers with razor sharp teeth, each one latch onto one of his arms, "AAAHHHHH!" He yelled as the teeth sunk into his arms…Both plants lifted the boy higher into the air, as Dosu's feet were kicking away like crazy. He looked towards Naruto and nearly wet his pants…not because the Leaf-nin was still smiling…but because of the giant purple plant that was growing behind him. It was similar to the plants that were binding his arms, however it's maw was about the size of Dosu himself…

"AAAHHHHH!" Dosu yelled as he felt two sets of teeth sink into each of his legs… He looked to see two more purple plants under him…spreading his legs…his eyes widened, "NOO!"

The GIANT demon plant, behind Naruto, snapped his mouth opened and close a few times to testingly…and then turned towards Dosu.

Dosu nearly had a heart attack, "I GIVE-MPHHHHH!" He was cut off as a green root wrapped itself tightly over his mouth…. "MPHMFFPH"

Gekko sighed, "Naruto… coughcough…I'm pretty sure he gives up…"

Naruto shrugged, "I didn't hear anything…" he muttered, as the plant got closer to Dosu… Everyone in the room sweat dropped at this…

Kakashi appeared behind Naruto and put his hand on the boy's shoulder… "That's enough…"

Naruto sighed, and dispelled the plants, dropping Dosu to the ground…

Gekko raised his right arm, "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto and Kakashi walked back towards the steps… "Your amazing…to copy Lee's attack and develop your own on the spot without a Sharingan…"

Naruto shrugged, "I didn't just develop it on the spot…I've been thinking up the combo for a while, I just wasn't sure how to knock the opponent up in the air until I saw Sasuke…who I guess got it from Lee…"

When they reached the top of the stands, the Hokage, who was looking paler than usual, spoke, "Now…we will decided the combatants for the finals…" The screen started to shift…

It stopped

"The first match it Shikamaru Nara vs Sabaku no Temari."

The screen shifted again and stopped.

"The second match will be Shino Aburame vs Sabaku no Kankuro."

The screen shifted again and stopped.

"The third match will be Neji Hyuuga vs…Sasuke Uchiha

The screen shifted again and stopped.

"The fourth match will be Naruto Uzumaki vs Sabaku no Gaara…. meaning that Zaku Abumi already goes to the next match…"

Naruto's grin widened, 'This is going to be fun…'

---------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: I hope you liked my modifications to "Uzumaki Naruto Rendan"**.

**FYI...for those of you who like one shots...I made a new one involving a pissed off Naruto...and an embarassed Jiraiya...you'll see... called, "The Kitsune Strikes back"**

**Lastly for the Authurs note...I can't tell you it...I...have got to be somewhere else...so i'll let this guy say it... (JackOfBladesX runs out of the room)**

**Shikamaru and Gaara enter the room...Shikamaru starts reading a peice of paper...**

** Shikamaru: "Normally the authur wouldn't tell anyone this...but he thought you might want to know ahead of time. Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki will not be learning Chidori and Rasengan respectively...Wait What!" Shikamaru looks up just in time to see a mob of angry fans tackle him, yelling out a bunch of questions...**

**Gaara: Review...or else...**

* * *

Return to Top 


	9. One Month!

** Disclaimor: dont' own Naruto...**

** A/N: Yea i know long update...sue me (please don't sue me...)**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter.  
**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------ **

**Chapter 9: One month!  
**

_**----------Week 1--------**_

Naruto stared at Kakashi's back as he walked away. Naruto sighed; He had actually come to Kakashi to ask for extra training. However, Kakashi had given him to the closet pervert, saying that he was ordered to concentrate on Sasuke. 'Old man better not be trying to screw me over…'

Naruto turned towards Ebisu and follows the special tutor. 'Can this guy even help me? He's usually training Konahamaru…'

Naruto found himself remembering their last encounter together…

_---Flashback---_

"LET ME GO!" cried a young boy as he held onto a tree stump for his life… 

"_HONORABLE GRANDSON…YOU…MUST…LET…ME…TRAIN…YOU!" cried an older man, as he pulled the young boy by his rather large scarf._

_Where was Naruto at the moment? Sitting on the tree stump, which Konahamaru was hanging on to, trying to meditate. Keyword being…TRYING. The only thing getting training was Naruto eyebrow, which was constantly twitching. It was about a week since Naruto had first met Konahamaru and Ebisu…and he dreaded every moment of it._

_Naruto quickly pulled out a kunai, and hacked off Konahamaru's scarf right at the center; which sent Ebisu flying backwards, and Konahamaru flying over Naruto…_

_Naruto sighed as he finally got the peace that he desired…which didn't last long._

_Ebisu and Konahamaru both rushed up to Naruto and both yelled, "HEY WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA…"_

_They paused when Naruto held up his hand. He pointed towards Ebisu, "Konahamaru wants to go to the Ninja Academy at the same time as his friends…It could be important for him to make friends…SO LET HIM!" It was one of the only times that Naruto ever dropped his smile, which terrified Ebisu beyond end… Naruto Pointed to Konahamaru, "Ebisu is a top elite…you keep going on about how you want to be Hokage…though there is NO short cut…being a successful ninja will be easier if you learn a few tricks early on…Ebisu is willing to train you, something that you will rarely fine…SO LET HIM!" Ebisu was wrong, the smile that Naruto had just put on was even MORE terrifying, and Konahamaru nearly wet his pants. Naruto started doing hand seals… "Now if you two don't mind…GET THE HELL OUT!" A demon plant burst out of the ground behind Naruto and went after the two annoying nins. Said nins went wide eye before running away._

_---End Flashback---_

Naruto and Ebisu stopped at the hotsprings… "I heard you asking Kakashi to help you train your chakra control…so I think we'll start there." Ebisu stared at Naruto to gage a reaction; his smile said that he was either happy, or he had homicidal thoughts. "This exercise is called the water walking exercise, it's similar to the tree climbing exercise but a bit harder. The tree climbing exercise was done on a solid surface. The water walking exercise will be done over water, which constantly changes, you'll need to constantly change you chakra output to stay a float."

Though Naruto didn't show it he was amazed, 'Wow I never thought someone other than Kakashi and Yamato would try to teach me something useful…'

"**Hey! What about me?"**

'What about you?' Naruto suppressed a laugh as the Kyuubi growled.

Ebisu started walking over to the hot spring, he stepped over onto the hot spring, but didn't fall in, to Naruto's surprise. "Now, it's your turn."

_---Hokage Tower---_

Sakura walked out of the Hokage's office, they had been talking about Naruto's… 'situation'. Sakura now felt sorry for the blonde shinobi, though she was terrified of the prospect of him being the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Finally she was ordered not to reveal her knowledge, or even the fact that she HAD that knowledge, to anyone. She found herself thinking more and more about her teammate… 'I don't know what to make of Naruto…I have to think about this more…'

_---Hot springs---_

SPLASH

Naruto fell into the hot water once again.

"You're doing better Naruto…but you still need to improve…try again-"

"Teeheeheehee…" the perverted giggle cut Ebisu off.

Ebisu turned towards the noise that, and his eyes suddenly widened at what he saw. What he saw was a white haired man peeking into the woman's bath. "YOU FIEND! SEIZE THAT AT ONCE!"

The white haired man turned and shushed Ebisu before turning back around to what he was doing.

"HOW DARE-"

Ebisu was cut off when an explosion of smoke surrounded the man, and a giant tongue came out of the smoke, slapping Ebisu right in the face, knocking the man out.

When the smoke cleared the white haired man was standing on top of a giant frog, which disappeared in another puff of smoke a moment later.

The white haired man went back to what he was doing.

Naruto seethed inside, though he didn't show it, 'Now who the hell is going to train me? Damn pervert…' Naruto though for a moment, and easily came up with a plan. He quickly grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down a note, before doing a familiar set of handseals…

_---Jiraiya---_

'This will be my greatest issue yet…' Jiraiya paused when he sensed something…He quickly turned to see a large root slowly coming out of the ground. It continued to grow until it was about two feet taller than Jiraiya, and about as wide a large tree. "Wow…you don't see that every day…" muttered the pervert…

"AAAHHHHH!"

Jiraiya quickly turned back when he heard a squeal of delight.

_---In the Hotsprings---_

A group of woman, including Anko and Kurenai, were currently sitting in the hotsprings enjoying themselves…until they saw it…a small root came out of the ground, right outside the water…weird thing was that it seemed to be holding a dirty piece of paper.

Anko went over to it, as did the other girls, and snatched it…

"_Dear Ladies,_

_I regret to inform you that there is a white haired pervert peeking in at you, I would do something about that if I were you._

_ Love Naruto_

Anko growled as she crumbled the paper, "Must be Jiraiya", she muttered and smirked. It wasn't the first time they dealt with the pervert, and it probably wouldn't be the last. "Alright ladies you know what to do."

Everyone nodded, and one of the girls that was NOT a shinobi quickly squealed, as the kunoichi disappeared…

_---Jiraiya---_

Jiraiya got a perverted smile on his face. The girls, not noticing that some were missing, were currently splashing each other and giggling.

Suddenly he felt a large wave of killer intent. He looked up to see ten Kunoichi, all clad in bath towels, all glaring at him.

Jiraiya smiled and quickly turned and ran…right into the branch… 'SHIT! I forgot that, that was there…'

The Kunoichi leapt on the pervert and started pounding him.

From the corner of his eye Jiraiya could see a blonde boy smiling and hold up a sign reading, _"Revenge is a bitch, ain't it."_

The blonde boy turned and left…

'Darn him', "OWWW!" growled the pervert.

_---Somewhere in the forest---_

Naruto was currently meditating in the forest, whilst trying to grow a full tree using his Mokuton…

It was slowly growing…a sapling grew out of the ground, green with only a two leaves on it. It started to slowly grow and widen…by the time it was Naruto's height, whislt he was sitting, it was about as wide as a baseball bat, slowly turning brown. It quickly grew much larger, and started to grow more branches, by the time that it was about Kakashi's height. By the time it was twice Kakashi's height it grew much more branches and many more leaves. It finally grew to the size of a full tree… The sight of it made Naruto smile a real smile for the first time in years.

Suddenly a fireball hit the tree, burning it to ashes in seconds…

Still Naruto didn't lose his smile, "Now that was just plain vulgar…"

Jiraiya growled, he was standing right behind Naruto, "You…because of you…"

Naruto turned his head to face Jiraiya's bruised face, "Yes…"

Jiraiya gasped, 'It's him…'

_---Flashback---_

_"You can't be seriously considering doing this to your own son…" cried Jiraiya…_

"_Sensei he's right…it's crazy!" agreed a sixteen year old Kakashi._

_Rin nodded quickly._

"_I know it is…but I have no choice", muttered the fourth while looking for the baby carriage…holding two beautiful blonde twins. He picked up the boy… "Jiraiya-sensei…do me a favor…when my children get old enough…please teach them the **Rasengan**…and also teach them the **Hiraishi (Flying Thunder God)**…I really would've liked to teach them those moves myself, but that won't be happening…"_

"_Arashi…" muttered Sarutobi with tears in his eyes…_

_Jiraiya turned away, but nodded, "What do we tell your wife?"_

_Arashi shrugged, and giggled, "That's the best part…I won't be around to tell her…good luck with that…"_

_The four nins quickly glared at the fourth._

_---End Flashback---_

'I already taught his sister the Rasengan…now maybe it's time to teach Naruto the jutsu.' Jiraiya smiled at the smiling boy. "Hey kid…I'll tell you what…I'll cut you some slack this time, and I'll even help you train…" Jiraiya beamed.

"No thanks…" Naruto turned back towards

Jiraiya's eyes widened, "WHAT!"

Naruto shrugged, "I'm not interested…"

"WHY THE HELL NOT!"

"I doubt you could teach me anything useful…you don't look to strong…"

Jiraiya laughed, "You obviously don't know WHO I AM!" Jiraiya quickly bit his thumb and did the summoning handseals…

He got into a ridiculous pose, "I AM-" He opened his eyes to see that Naruto was walking away from him… "HEY!"

Naruto sighed, 'First this guy screws up my tutor…now I have to deal with him…'

The pervert appeared right in front of Naruto… "Just look…" Jiraiya handed Naruto a familiar orange book, "See I'm the author of the famous Icha Icha series!"

Naruto sighed as he held the book, "I already know you're a pervert…"

Jiraiya laughed, "I'm not a pervert…" He got into a ridiculous posed, "I'M A SUPER PERVERT!" He got out of the stance and stood in front of a tree. "Now watch this", Jiraiya turned towards a tree. He raised his hand and concentrated chakra to it, creating a whirling ball of chakra. "Rasengan!" Jiraiya slammed the ball into the tree, decimating it. He turned back to Naruto, "Now…would you like to repeat what you said about me NOT being strong…" Jiraiya blinked, Naruto was gone.

_---Naruto---_

Naruto just exited the forest, luckily without running into that pervert again. Naruto sighed as he started making his way home, he turned his head to his hand and sneered, he was still holding the orange book. He shrugged, 'I guess I'll give it to Kakashi later…'

Naruto felt something behind him and turned to see an annoyed Jiraiya. "You…"

Naruto turned and left.

"Hey wait!"

Naruto started running.

Jiraiya took off after him, "HEY WAIT!"

Naruto quickly turned and hurled the orange book at the pervert.

Jiraiya caught the book easiler, "HEY! THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT BOOK." Jiraiya screamed, holding the book in his right hand, with his thumb between the pages holding it open.

Naruto quickly ran again, doing the handseals for a henge, he transformed into a six year old, brown haired boy. He ran into the village and smiled, woman all around. He quickly jumped onto an older woman. He buried his face in her stomach and started crying.

The lady looked at the boy strangely, as did many of the other woman surrounding them, "Little boy what's wrong?"

"A dirty old man is trying to read me a odd book about people touching each other while they are naked…he says he wants to do that stuff with me…" the six year old boy cried.

The woman's eyes widened.

And it was that moment that Jiraiya appeared, "THERE YOU ARE!"

The woman glared at the man, He was holding an Icha Icha Paradise book. "YOU!" the woman screamed as she pointed a finger at Jiraiya, and held a strong grip on Naruto.

"What?" Jiraiya asked.

"YOU PEDIPHILE!" she screamed

Jiraiya looked confused, 'Is Orochimaru around?' He started looking around. That's the moment he sensed a large wave of killer intent. That's the first time he TRULY noticed his surroundings. He was surrounded by woman, all glaring. "What?"

Naruto grinned, 'I swear…It has to be a maternal thing…'

**Kyuubi grinned on the inside.**

Naruto chose this moment to escape.

"Wait this is just a huge misunderstanding…" Jiraiya laughed.

"GET HIM!" Everyone jumped onto Jiraiya and started pounding him…poor poor Jiraiya.

_---Naruto---_

It was nighttime at Naruto's apartment, he had finally gotten home…after a ramen frenzy.

"Naruto…"

Naruto turned to see the old man, who had a stern look on his face. Naruto beamed at the old man, "Yo! How's it going…"

The third sighed, "I…heard you had an interesting time with a student of mine…"

Naruto shrugged, "Nope…doesn't ring a bell…"

Sarutobi sighed again, "Jiraiya…"

"OH! You mean Ero-Sennin? Yea I saw him…some woman got the weird idea that he was trying to rape me or something…don't know how they got that idea in their heads…"

Sarutobi sweat dropped. 'This isn't getting me anywhere…' The old man reached into his robe, "Here! Your copy of the contract…"

Naruto took the piece of paper and started reading it.

"In short…it says the moment you reach the status of chunin…you will receive the right to leave the village, when ever you want…This right can not be revoked, unless you do something like interfere with a mission or something…then the Hokage can revoke the right…But you shouldn't have a problem like that…" the old man explained. 'Hopefully by this time you'll be skilled enough to avoid this…Akatsuki group Jiraiya was worried about…' prayed the third.

Naruto nodded.

"You should know…Sakura knows about your…tenant."

Naruto nodded again, "Yea I know…"

Sarutobi nodded, "Also…one more thing you should know…representatives of the Hayate clan will be coming to Konaha for the chunin exams…I've been told that…your friend Rei will be among their ranks…"

Naruto's eyes widened… "Really…"

Sarutobi nodded.

Naruto sighed and turned to walk into his apartment.

_---Sasuke---_

Kakashi and Sasuke were both away from the village.

"Ok Sasuke…take this…" Kakashi gave Sasuke a piece of paper… "I had intended to give this to you together with Naruto and Sakura…but this is necessary now…You need a method to fight off the Hyuuga…and this may be the only way how. Just concentrate your chakra into it."

Sasuke concentrated his chakra into it. It started to burn.

Kakashi's visible eye turned into an upside down crescent moon, "Obviously…you have a affinity for fire-" Kakashi paused to look at the piece of paper, 'Is it crinkling as well? Hmmm…maybe I should teach him the help him learn that toned down version of the **Raikiri** that I've been developing instead…nah…the fire is more visible…better stick with that for now…' "Yea…you have an affinity for fire…which really isn't a surprise…"

"All the Uchiha have an affinity for fire jutsus…"

Kakashi nodded, "That's not true…some who have taken this exercise have had different results…it all depends on the person Sasuke…not just the clan…"

Sasuke growled, "What is the point to all of this…"

Kakashi smiled, "The point is that I'm going to try to help you unlock a hidden power…so you can create a personalized move just for yourself, much like I developed my **Raikiri**."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "You're going to teach me to create a move as strong as the **Raikiri.**"

Kakashi chuckled, "No…that would take years of practice…I'm going to help you get started…I'm hoping that by the end of the month…That you will have a good grasp on the subject…I'm also hoping that by the end of this month…that you'll be able to develop something new…even if it's weak at first…I'm hoping that since you've already had practice with fire jutsu...that this will be a lot faster."

Sasuke nodded, though inside he was confused, 'Shouldn't I work on learning many strong moves NOW!'

As if reading his mind, "No…"

"Hn…"

_---Naruto---_

_"Why did you call me out here Naruto?" asked the younger silver hair girl…_

"_I needed to tell you something Rei…I'm a demon…"_

"_What?"_

"I'm the vessel for the Kyuubi no Kitsune…" 

_The silver haired girl's eyes widened at the prospect._

Naruto quickly woke up, panting…

He sighed and got ready.

After a few moments, he quickly opened the door, and came face to face with Sakura…

"Naruto!"

"Sakura…" Naruto muttered as he was about to walk pass her…

"Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan… The two ninjas turned to look at Haku as she walked out her door… "Forgive me for not being able to stay longer…but I'm currently late…" muttered Haku as she ran off…

Sakura smiled, "I see she's adjusted well…"

Naruto sighed, "You know…sometimes I get the feeling that she wants to kill me…" 'Why am I sharing this with her?'

Sakura turned to look at him oddly, but then nodded, "Well…I can understand how you would feel like that, you did stop her from saving her father-figure."

**"Wait…What? You saved her from getting killed by Gatou…"**

Naruto would've slapped the fox if he could, 'Idiot…what fight were you watching…'

_**---Flashback (Kyuubi Style)---**_

_**Naruto looked around, he was back on "The Great Naruto Bridge!"**_

_**He turned to one side to see a man with Red hair man, with nine long tails, and a black robe, making out with three young woman. **_

_**Sakura and Sasuke, though almost invisible in the mist, were in the dome of Demonic Mirrors.**_

_**Haku was under Naruto's foot…**_

_**And Kakashi…**_

…_**Was wearing nothing but his face mask and a pink thong, singing, "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard…"**_

_**Zabuza rushed at Gatou and his henchmen, taking spears and swords before killing the crime lord.**_

_**However the attack quickly killed Zabuza…**_

_**Naruto took his foot off of Haku who screamed, "NOO ZABUZA-SAMA!"**_

_**Haku quickly got up and rushed over to…the red haired man, jumped on him and stuck her tongue down his throat.**_

_**Sakura walked out of the Demonic Ice Mirrors, hair and clothes disheleved, with a smile on her face... He turned back to see that the mist had cleared to reveal, a naked Sasuke rocking himself back a forth.  
**_

_**---End Flashback---**_

**"And that's what happened…"**

Naruto's eyes were at their widest… "I need a smoke…" Naruto turned and walked back into his apartment…

Sakura's eyes widened, "Since when do you smoke?"

"I don't…I just really need one…"

Sakura looked at him oddly before walking in after him… "Are you ok…"

"It's kind of hard to gage that…" Naruto laughed.

Sakura flinched at that comment… "Want to talk?"

"If your going to talk about me being the container…forget it…"

"Naruto…"

"I prefer not to talk about it Sakura…no matter if you mean well or not…"

Sakura sighed… "Well…if you ever need a friend…remember you have one for life…" She said with a smile…before walking out the door.

Naruto nodded, "Thank you…"

_**----------Week 2--------**_

Naruto sighed, as he walked out the door and right into Yamato. "Hey Yamato…"

"Naruto…I wanted to teach you something…"

"I have my own training to get to…"

Yamato sighed, 'I knew this wouldn't be easy', he thought as he extended his arm, "**Hayashi Shuushuku!**"

Vines flew out of Yamato's sleeve and grabbed a hold of Naruto's jacket collar, holding him up in the air.

Naruto growled, "I can't believe you stole my move…"

"Life sucks…get over it…" Yamato muttered as he walked off…

_---Forest---_

Yamato, with the still suspended Naruto, entered the forest. "Ok…lets get to the point…we know that you have been having SOME contact with the Kyuubi…"

Naruto stared at him, "We?"

"The Hokage, Kakashi, and myself…"

Naruto sighed, "How did you figure it out…"

Yamato smiled, "I've tried copying your other moves…I couldn't…the only way that would be possible is if you had another type of chakra that I didn't have access to, in your case Kyuubi's demonic chakra…"

Naruto sighed again, "And?"

"We don't really care…The Fourth said that you would gain access to some of the demon's power…but he said that the demon would NEVER be free…so we're not to worried."

Naruto nodded

"However, I'll feel better if you learned this trick…it works on people just like you…"

"A new jutsu?"

Yamato nodded, **"Hokage Shiki Jijun Jutsu: Kakuan Nitten Suishu (Hokage-Style Sixty-year-old Technique: Enclosed Hermitage Return to Society). **It's meant to suppress the power of a Biju."

Naruto nodded.

_---Sasuke---_

Sasuke started concentrating his chakra around him again.

Kakashi continued to watch the Uchiha. "Keep working at it Sasuke…heat up the air around you…"

Sasuke continued to concentrate his chakra for a few moments, before pausing for a new moments before pausing…he dropped to the ground panting…

Kakashi sighed, "That'll be enough for now Sasuke…let's work on your speed and strength again…"

Sasuke nodded.

_---Outside of Konaha---_

A group of people continued walking in the direction of Konaha…

Among their ranks was a silver haired girl with crimson eyes… 'I wonder if I'll see Naruto while I'm in Konaha…'

_---Flashback---_

"I'm the vessel for the Kyuubi no Kitsune…" 

_The silver haired girl's eyes widened at the prospect. "Naruto-kun…"_

_But she stopped when suddenly Naruto was hit in the head with the side of a katana, knocking him out._

"_AAAAHHHHHH!" A man screamed attempted to cleave the girl in half…the girl quickly pulled her sword, just in time to block the other attack… The man's attack knocked the blade out of the girl's hands…The man raised his blade quickly, getting ready to kill the small girl, but was quickly beheaded…_

_A man appeared behind the beheaded man, scooped the younger girl in his arms before running off, "WAIT! NARUTO!"_

_---End Flashbakc---_

The memory of her last encounter with Naruto still brought tears to her eyes.

'I hope I can see him again…'

_---Naruto---_

A few days later Naruto was taking a break from his training… he was just laying on the grass…

Suddenly he felt something near him…it was Neji Hyuuga…

Neji sighed and turned around…

"You seem to have problems with Hinata…if I may ask…why?"

"Hn…She's part of the Main House…" (Neji)

"Is that all?" (Naruto)

"Do I need another reason…" (Neji)

"Is their something wrong with the Main House?" (Naruto)

"They are enslaving the Branch House…my house…with the Cage Bird seal…" Neji took off his Hitai-ate, "This is my fate…"

"You should stop believing in fate…its all BS really…" (Naruto)

Neji growled, "What do you know?"

"I know enough…fate…the chains that bind all of us…is nothing but a load of crap…in the end…fate CAN be changed…my fate…is to be everyone's escape goat…that's something that I won't ever be again…"

"Hn…My cousin…her fate is to be a loser…and just like her fate…she lost our match." (Neji)

"And what's my fate?" (Naruto)

"According to sources…you were the dead last of the academy…your fate is to be a loser as well…" (Neji)

"How do you rank me with Gaara?" (Naruto)

Neji smirked, "Gaara is definitely the stronger fighter…you should surrender before you end up like Lee…or worse…"

"Well then…when I defeat Gaara…I expect you to understand the truth about fate…" Naruto muttered, before walking off…

"Hmmm…."

_---Sakura---_

Sakura continued to punch the log, 'I need to get stronger…Naruto and Sasuke-kun are so far ahead of me…I need to get stronger…'

"Sakura…", Sakura turned to see Haku standing behind her, "You've been at it for a while now…how about giving it a break?"

Sakura shook her head… "I need to get stronger Haku…"

Haku sighed, "You should follow your strengths…you told me that you had great chakra control…you should work on some jutsu…"

Sakura sighed, "I don't know any ninjutsu…and Kakashi isn't around to train me…"

Haku smiled, "Then how about I teach you some water jutsu?" Sakura looked at her with a stunned expression, "And since Sasuke and Naruto seem to get hurt often…maybe I can teach you a few things about herbs…"

Sakura smiled hopefully, "Would you really do that for me?"

Haku laughed and nodded her head.

_---Naruto---_

A few days later…Naruto was walking down the street of Konaha. Naruto was about to reach the bridge, where team 7 usually met…That's when he saw her… and she saw him…

Naruto walked up to Rei… "Hey…"

Rei smiled at the boy, "Hi…"

"Long time no see…"

"It has been…"

Naruto continued to look at the young woman before him…staring at her silver hair and red eyes…ignoring the square rock that was behind him…the one that exploded…

Naruto's eyebrow twitched, "Konahamaru…"

Three kids appeared from the smoke and looked at the teenagers… the kids sweat dropped and ran off…

"Wow…what a mood killer…" 

'Shut up…'

Naruto walked off, motioning for Rei to follow…

_---In the Forest---_

Naruto sighed as he leaned against a tree… "So…how have you been…"

"Fine…Naruto…I wanted to apologize…" the young girl sighed, "I kind of disappeared without telling you…and-"

"I know…you were kind of forced to move by your clan…your clan moved to Fang Country…didn't they?"

Rei looked at him in surprised.

"The Third told me after I tried to…" Naruto's eyes widened, he was about to say when he tried to kill himself… "When I…tried…to…run away…to…come and find you…"

Rei laughed… "I don't believe you…you wouldn't…"

'Nope…not nearly that optimistic…' "Ummm…" Naruto pushed himself off the tree that he was leaning on… "Here…" Naruto unclipped the Rei's sword from his belt and handed it to her… "I've been holding it for you…I found it after the incident a few years ago…"

Rei grabbed the sword and held it close to her… "Naruto…thank you…I was so sad when I thought I lost it…it was my grandmother's sword…she gave it to me…and told me to give it to the man I was to marry…" Rei laughed… "If you had kept it…the two of us would've had to become engaged…" Her voice became seductive, "Would you have liked that….Naruto-kun…"

He shrugged, "Nope…"

Rei sweat dropped, "Jerk…"

Naruto's smile turned into a cocky smirk…

"So…did you ever learn how to use it?"

Naruto shook his head…

"You never found someone to teach you how? Gosh…I hope you haven't been swinging it around like an idiot…"

This time it was Naruto's turn to sweat drop…not completely because of the comment…but because the laughing in his head… "I didn't use it…"

"Oh…" Rei looked down, "Naruto…the last time we spoke…you told me a secret of yours…I was wondering if you would like to talk about it…"

Naruto was caught off guard by this… Though Sakura had made the same proposal…Naruto found it easier to speak with her… "Sure…" And so…for the first time in years…the two old friends spoke…

_**----------Week 3--------**_

Naruto waited in the training field…he had already finished practicing the jutsu Yamato had given him…

The jutsu required a lot of hand seals…much like the **Mokuton: Shichūka no Jutsu**. However neither technique required a ridiculous amount of chakra…Naruto's supply being just big enough to use either jutsu once…

Naruto sighed as he continued to wait… 'She's late…'

Today Naruto was going to train with Rei…she would be teaching him some basic sword techniques…

Naruto turned, when he heard footsteps…He saw Rei, in dark blue robes…walking towards him… wearing her wakizashi on her belt…

She walked to Naruto… "Where's your sword?"

Naruto held up a bamboo flower, as he did a few seals. The bamboo transformed itself into a large, katana like, edge-less sword…

Rei's eyes widened for a moment… "Interesting move…" She raised her sword, "Are you ready?"

Naruto nodded.

_---Sasuke---_

Sasuke continued to concentrate his chakra around him…this time however…the area around him slightly lit on fire… small flames dancing around him…Sasuke finally stopped, the flames died.

"Good job Sasuke…now…lets see how we can work with that…"

_---Jiraiya---_

"I have got to be the biggest idiot alive…" Jiraiya muttered as he held up the file… 'I can't believe I never knew this…Arashi was actually a descendant of the First Hokage…How could I have not known that?' Jiraiya rubbed his head, 'Unlike most descendants…Naruto seems to have developed the Mokuton technique…I wonder if his sister can use them as well…hmmm…'

_---Naruto---_

Naruto's 'sword' once again flew out of his hands… "So…how am I doing…"

"Do you know how to whistle?" (Rei)

Naruto nodded…

"Well if your ever fighting in a battle…just whistle and someone will probably come help you…"

Naruto sweat dropped…Once again, there was laughing in his head…

"Is that so…wanna fight me with Taijutsu?" Naruto smirked…

"Wait a few months and I'll be happy to…"

Naruto looked at her with confusion…

"I'm joining Konaha's ninja rank…as is most of the Hayate clan…"

Naruto smiled, "That's nice to hear…"

_---Hours later---_

Naruto was walking down the street, once again ignoring the looks he was receiving with a happy smile…that infuriates everyone who sees it…

Jiraiya appeared in front of him… "Yo!"

"Yo Ero-Sennin! You get castrated yet?"

Jiraiya's eye twitched… "Your not going to let me teach you a technique are you?"

"Nope…"

"Not even if I told you the fourth was the maker?" (Jiraiya)

"The fourth…well that changes everything…now I know I don't want to learn your technique…" Naruto laughed as he walked off…

Jiraiya sighed, 'How am I suppose to keep the last request of a dying man…It's all this villages fault…'

_---In another part of town---_

Gekko Hayate was walking down the street, when suddenly he heard someone behind call him… "Gekko-san!"

Rei ran up to Gekko and gave him a hug. "It's nice to see you again…I haven't seen you in a long time…"

"It's nice to see you too Rei-hime…"

Rei smiled, "Hey can you help me with something…its really dark out…and I'm trying to find this place…do you think you could help me out?"

Gekko nodded, as both members of the Hayate clan walked off… Unknown to both warriors of leaf…down the same path that Gekko was walking…was Baki and Kabuto…discussing their plans of attack…

_**----------Week 4--------**_

_---Sasuke---_

"**Ryuusei Sumasshu** **(Meteor**** Smash)!"**

Sasuke, slammed the burning ball into the tree, the ball exploded, sending a wave of flames forward, away from Sasuke…

"Good job Sasuke…you've advanced further than I could've hoped…"

Sasuke smirked…he still had a week to work on his attack…he would make great use of that time…

_---Naruto---_

Naruto continued to meditate as, three trees continued to grow around him…

He smirked…the process had become easier…much easier…

Naruto had learned Yamato's technique…though he couldn't test it…

Naruto's training with Rei had gone well…but he still ahd much to learn before he would hold an actual sword in combat…so he opted to fight using his regular style…

The mokuton had become easier to use, through the water-walking technique…though like all his other moves…he still needed more practice…

_---Sasuke---_

"The chunin exams…"

_---Naruto---_

"…are going to be fun…"

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A/N: I'm not sure if i like the Naruto and Rei meet scene...if i rewrite the fic i'll probably change it...**

** Anyway...i hope you enjoyed it...**

**Finals are up next...  
**


	10. The Demonic Forest vs The Bloody Desert!

** Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N: Ok some things I want to address...**

**1) I will NEVER consider criticism a FLAME (Unless you just start saying I'm stupid or my fic sucks for no apparent reason)...I've been getting a lot of it lately and to be honest i'm glad, it helps me improve my writing.**

**2) The last chapter...could have gone multiple different ways...I received a review telling me that Naruto should've acted differently...and maybe the reviewer was right...but in the end...it could have gone multiple ways...and i just picked the way i though would be best...examples... (I'm not going to spend much time with explaining why i did what i did...in my opinion it's like, having to explain a joke...it doesn't make it funny)  
**

**a. In the beggining Naruto could've gone to Kakashi for training (I thought, even though Naruto was smarter and had a different personality, he would've gone with this action)**

**b. He could've gone with Yamato, being another master of wood jutsus (Could've worked out and was a likely action...but i still believe Naruto would have gone Kakashi).**

**c. Trained alone...Blow off both Kakashi and Yamato and just train alone, kind of like he did with Jiraiya (Also very likely...)**

**--In the end...i chose Kakashi...--**

**3) Lol...i'm getting lot's of criticism about Naruto's sister...to be honest...i didn't expect a lot of it...**

**a. First thing i wanted to address was that i will NOT make her all powerful...**

**b. Second thing...it was never my intention to have her learn MOKUTON...i just beleive that it would be a natural assumption...**

**Anway...only about half of you are reading this...so lets just get on with the fic...ENJOY...  
**

* * *

**Chapter 10: The Demonic Forest vs The Bloody Desert!  
**

Naruto sighed, 'Lazy bastard…'

Shikamaru had just practically handed the Sand girl the match…though he did put up a good fight, and captured her in his Shadow bind…he just gave up claiming that he didn't have enough chakra to continue through with the match…

Gekko Hayate raised his right arm, "THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS SABAKU NO TEMARI!"

The crowd roared with cheers…

Naruto was currently sitting in the crowd, between Sakura and Haku. Chouji was to Haku's left, after Chouji was Shino, Kiba, and Hinata. To Sakura's right was Ino. Ino was currently screaming out…unkind things about Shikamaru…

The Lazy ninja walked back up to take his seat right next to Ino. She bonked him on the head, "IDIOT! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY LOSE TO HER!"

Shikamaru muttered, "Troublesome…"

Naruto sighed and looked around…The Hokage, as did the Kazekage, had his own private seat near the top of the Arena. Rei, her grandfather, and the other representatives of the Hayate clan, were sitting near the top…

"THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE…SHINO ABURAME VS SABAKU NO KANKURO."

Shino got up and walked down the steps to the arena, as did Kankuro…

They both faced each other…

'This guy is pretty tough…I should save my chakra…it'll be best if I was at full power when the real fighting starts', thought Kankuro.

Gekko was about to start the match, when Kankuro raised his hand, "I give up…"

The crowd was stunned, but then started booing and hissing Kankuro…

Gekko, through his illness, tried to yell over the crowd, "THE WINNER IS SHINO ABURAME!"

Though he won the match, Shino was upset, though he didn't show it; he wanted to fight so he could show the judges the full extent of his abilities.

Both genins walked back up the stairs…

_---Hokages Seat---_

Yamato leaned over to speak with the Hokage… "Sir…what if we allow Shino to fight Zaku instead?"

The third nodded, "I was thinking the same thing…but we'll wait for now…we'll go on with the rest of the matches…the next one should be Sasuke vs Neji, correct?"

The ANBU nodded, "Yes sir!"

"Are they here yet?"

Yamato shook his head, "They're both late sir…"

The third grimaced, "Kakashi's bad habits better not have rubbed off on Sasuke…Then perhaps we should let Shino fight after all-" The old man paused when he noticed that Gekko was announcing the next match.

_--Arena---_

"THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE…SASUKE UCHIHA VS NEJI HYUUGA."

The crowd roared at the prospect of getting to see a fight between the two greatest clans of Konaha.

Neji Hyuuga walked into the arena slowly.

The crowd waited patiently for Sasuke…

_---Hokage Seat---_

The old man grimaced, 'Usually Sasuke would be disqualified…but by the look of the crowd…perhaps I can cut him some slack…' "We're going to allow Sasuke some extra time…in form Gekko-" The Hokage was cut off by the display in the arena…

_---Arena---_

Both Kakashi and Sasuke appeared in a swirl of leaves, making the crowd cheer.

Gekko sighed, "Kakashi…get out of the arena…"

Kakashi took this time to notice where he actually was… "Whoops…sorry…" With that he poofed away in smoke, reappearing right next to Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai, who were sitting higher up in the stands, by themselves.

Gekko turned towards Sasuke, "Are you ready?"

Sasuke nodded, he was wearing a black shirt, with the Uchiha symbol on the back, and matching pants…

Neji, had on his normal outfit…

The two nins stared each other down.

"FIGHT!"

"BYAKKUGAN!"

"SHARINGAN!"

Neji activated his blood limit, creating veins around his eyes, and slightly showing his pupils. 'This is one of the only opponents who fate also smiles upon…but I WILL WIN!'

Sasuke activated his blood limit as well, his two-comma eye bloodline showing. 'I can't let myself get hit by his Jyuuken.'

Neji got into his Jyuuken stance.

Sasuke got into his clan's standard fighting style.

Sasuke was the first to make a move. He placed his hands into the ram seal and started flaring his chakra into a point in front of him.

Neji's eyes widened, 'Why is he concentrating all of his chakra into a single point? Wait…the area around that point is heating up…'

Sasuke continued concentrating his chakra… Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment, 'NOW!' The point in front of Sasuke exploded in a blaze. Sasuke then started flaring his chakra, ropes of flames started circling his arms, legs, and torso. Sasuke chose this moment to rush Neji…

Sasuke sent his fist at Neji's head, twirling some fire around it at the same time. Neji quickly sidestepped Sasuke's fist, though some of the fire slightly singed his hair.

Neji quickly jabbed at Sasuke's chest, hoping to knock him out quickly.

With his Sharingan, Sasuke saw it coming and easily dodged it, at the same time using his momentum to maneuver his body into a cartwheel, and brining himself into a handstand, he then quickly set his leg at Neji's head, surrounding it in rings of fire at the same time as well…

'He's just going to keep this up…I'm going to have to risk taking the hit…' Neji thought.

Sasuke's leg connected with Neji's arm, sending flames at Neji; luckily for the Hyuuga, his arm blocked most of Sasuke's flames away from his face. Neji quickly recovered, and sent a barrage of Jyuuken strikes straight at Sasuke's leg. He managed to close many of Sasuke's tenketsu points before the Uchiha was able to get away.

Sasuke limped on his left leg, his right leg being mostly sealed, Sasuke growled as his fire died down, 'Damn it…I knew I shouldn't have tried fighting him with that style…' thought the Uchiha as he quickly pulled out some kunai.

Neji, who had a few mild burns, quickly launched himself at the Uchiha. Before Sasuke could move, Neji quickly started jabbing him with Jyuuken. Sasuke didn't even have a chance to move, a moment later though Neji growled and stopped attacking Sasuke, as the Uchiha transformed into a log.

Neji quickly saw Sasuke behind him.

Sasuke hurled kunai at the Hyuuga. Neji smirked and started to spin, "**Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigram Palms Heavenly Spin)**!" He screamed as chakra appeared all around, spinning in the shield that labeled it as the 'Heavenly Spin'.

Neji grinned at the Uchiha as he came out of his spin. "It doesn't matter what you do against me…you'll never get passed my ultimate defense."

Sasuke sneered on the outside, but on the inside his mind was going a mile a minute, 'Hmmm…the **Kaiten **spun in a clockwise motion…I wonder…it's worth a try. But it won't work with just any fire jutsu, I don't have enough control…I'll have to use…THAT JUTSU!'

Sasuke quickly grabbed a set of shurikan and hurled them at the Hyuuga, afterwards he quickly started doing some hand seals, and at the same time he started getting feeling back in his leg.

Neji quickly spun into another Kaiten to avoid getting hit by Sasuke's shurikan, when he came out of the spin, his eyes widened.

After completing the chain of seals, Sasuke grabbed his right wrist with his left hand. He started gathering chakra into his right hand. The chakra burst into flames as his hand was completely consumed by his own fire, but it didn't seem to pain him at all. Slowly and slowly the fire started to condense. After a few moments the flames had compressed into a small glowing red orb, heat and flames coming from the orb. Sasuke pointed the orb at Neji and started running as quickly as possible at the Hyuuga, silently thanking Kakashi for helping him train his speed.

Neji quickly started to spin, his chakra flared, **"Hakkeshō Kaiten!"**

Sasuke reached Neji, or actually Neji's chakra shield, and hurled his glowing orb into it, **"Ryuusei Sumasshu** **(Meteor Smash)!"** The orb and the **Kaiten** connected, the orb exploded sending flames, not straightforward, but along the same course that the **Kaiten** was following. The flames mixed with the **Kaiten** creating a shield, not out of chakra, but out of pure fire.

Inside the shield, Neji was not fairing well at all, 'It's to hot…' His eyes widened as he suddenly found himself lacking oxygen, 'I can't breath!'

Sasuke growled as he stared at the flaming heavenly shield, 'Maybe that wasn't-"

BOOM

His thoughts suddenly paused when the **Kaiten** exploded, sending waves of flames and chakra outwards, knocking the Uchiha back several yards, he landed with a thud, unconscious.

Neji appeared, standing for a moment, but quickly fell to the ground as well, unconscious.

Medic nins rushed out to the two fighters…

Gekko raised his hand, "The round is a double knock out…"

Even though the match ended in a tie…the crowd cheered for the two young men.

_---Kakashi---_

Kakashi groaned, ignoring Gai's ranting about youthfulness, 'Sasuke's **Ryuusei Sumasshu**…it's made by completely mixing Sasuke's chakra and chakra created flames…because of that it was able to mix with the chakra from Neji's **Kaiten** very easily…the result was the oven that Neji was placed in, and of course fire burns oxygen…which will explain how Neji fell so quickly. However, because Sasuke's and Neji's chakra mixed in such an unstable manner…it reacted in that chain reaction…the result…was the explosion that Sasuke was caught in…Luckily for Neji, since he was spinning his chakra outward, the explosion flew outward, leaving him safe.' Kakashi sighed, 'In the end…it was a double-edged sword…caused by two ninjas, with two high level jutsu…'

_---Medical Room (Sasuke)---_

Sakura and Ino burst into the medical room with a cry of, "SASUKE-KUN!"

The Medical nin shushed them both and pointed them both to a bed.

A Medic nin was looking over Sasuke, "I can't undestand why…but these wounds aren't to bad…some medical ointment and you should be fully healed in a few days…though they shouldn't really give you any real problems…", analyzed the medic as she finished applying the ointment to Sasuke's burns, earning her a glare from both Sakura and Ino. After she finished, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a soldier pill, "Normally I would say you would regain your strength in about two days…but why don't you swallow this…you won't get it all back, but you should probably regain a decent portion of it."

Sasuke nodded and swallowed it.

The medic nin left and Sakura and Ino came closer…

_---Medic Room (Neji)---_

"…take this soldier pill…you won't regain all of your strength, but you should get a decent portion of it back…" said the nurse after she finished applying ointment to Neji's burns…

Neji nodded, "Thank you."

The nurse walked right pass the door, just as another girl walked in.

Neji stared at the girl, "Tenten…"

Tenten smiled sadly at the Hyuuga, "Are you alright Neji-" Tenten paused the second the door opened again…at the door was none other than Hiashi Hyuuga…

Hiashi looked at the boy sternly, whilst holding a letter in his right hand, "Neji…I think it's about time I give you a long overdue explanation…" muttered Hiashi. The older Hyuuga looked at both Tenten and the nurse, "Please give the two of us some time alone…"

The girls nodded and left…

_---Medical Room (Sasuke)---_

Kakashi walked into the medical room, "Yo!"

The three occupants looked at the copy ninja, but it was Sakura that spoke her mind, "Sensei? What are you doing here? What about Naruto? Isn't he fighting yet?"

Kakashi looked at Sakura, "I'm here checking up on Sasuke. Naruto isn't fighting yet. They decided since there was an extra fighter, to let Zaku fight Shino, since Shino's last opponent apparently gave up or something like that…"

Sakura nodded, "Yea…I can't understand why though…that Kankuro guy was really good in the preliminaries, I can't imagine why he would decide to just quit like that."

Kakashi sighed, "Just remember…look underneath the underneath…" He said as he walked out of the room.

Ino raised an eyebrow, "What's that suppose to mean?"

Sakura shrugged, "Kakashi-sensei always speaks in riddles."

Sasuke didn't like the way Kakashi sounded…

_---Naruto---_

Sakura and Ino sat back down in their seats…

They looked down to see that Zaku was unconscious, and Gekko had his arm raised.

"THE WINNER IS SHINO ABURAME!"

Sakura smiled, "Shino won I see…"

"Yea! He totally owned that Sound punk. He managed to clog those holes in his hands with his bugs…Zaku's arms practically bursted with chakra", laughed Kiba.

"THE NEXT FIGHT WILL BE, SABAKU NO GAARA VS NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

Naruto sighed and got up.

_---Arena---_

Naruto walked down into the arena.

Gaara teleported in the arena using his sand…

Both fighters faced off…

**"Something still creeps me out about this kid…he reminds me of this mentally unstable blonde kid I know…"**

Naruto's right eye twitched, 'You wouldn't be talking about me would you?'

** "Oh! Yea…awkward…"**

'Just keep your mouth shut…'

"FIGHT!", yelled Gekko Hayate as he jumped out of the arena…

Naruto's eye twitched again, 'Doesn't he usually wait against one of the walls?'

Gaara quickly sent some of his sand out at Naruto.

Naruto did a back flip and threw some shurikan at Gaara, however, Gaara's sand quickly blocked the projectiles though.

Naruto started off with some hand seals… "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan!**" A giant root burst out of the ground in front of Naruto, and headed straight for Gaara.

Gaara's sand reacted quickly and stopped the root. Gaara's eyes widened when he saw the root was mere centimeters from his face.

Naruto smiled, 'I may not be as fast as Lee, but those roots can pack a punch.'

Naruto quickly started on another set of hand seals. "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan!**" Another root burst out of the ground, but before it started moving towards Gaara, Naruto quickly threw a kunai at the tip, stabbing the sharp weapon against the root; and once again the root burst forward straight at Gaara. Once again Gaara's stand quickly stopped the root from getting any closer to him, but his eyes widened when he took a closer look at the kunai, it had an explosive note attached.

BOOM!

The note exploded sending Gaara flying backwards, luckily for him his sand once again protected him from taking damage, but not from getting pushed back against the wall.

Naruto appeared a few meters in front of Gaara and threw more kunai, with explosive tags, at the redheaded boy.

Gaara quickly created a sphere of sand around him, just as the kunai stabbed into it.

BOOM!

The kunai exploded once again, however this time Gaara's sand held up, not letting the explosions shake the sand nin, though the explosions left visible craters in the sand shield.

Naruto continued to grin, but his eyes widened when he felt something grab onto his right ankle and left arm. He looked down to see said limps were grabbed by sand. Naruto's eyes widened again, 'The first explosion…it must've spread the sand across the arena's grass so I couldn't see it.'

"**Sabaku Kyū!"** Gaara muttered as he lowered his sand shield. He started to raise his right hand.

More sand quickly rose up and some of it quickly wrapped around his waist.

Naruto quickly sent his right hand towards Gaara. He concentrated a large amount of HIS chakra into the bracelet, making it glow green, **"Hayashi Shuushuku!"** Six large vines exploded out of Naruto's bracelet and attacked Gaara.

Gaara's sand went on the offense and came up. Unexpectedly, the vines burst through Gaara's sand; though the sand managed to divert most of the vines into planting themselves against the wall, one of the vines wrapped itself tightly around Gaara's neck, the thorns piercing **Suna no Yoroi (Armor of Sand)**, his last line of defense. Gaara's eyes widened when he felt multiple large thorns press against the skin of his neck…

The two fighters faced each other off once gain…

_---Hokage Seats---_

Sarutobi's eyes were at their widest, 'It's a draw…If Gaara crushes Naruto with his sand, Naruto will skewer Gaara's neck with thorns…and neither has the ability to use the replacement jutsu at the moment…' Sarutobi sighed… 'I didn't think anyone would ever beat that child…but it seems Naruto has forced him into a stalemate.'

_---Gekko---_

"Cough", the sickly ninja coughed… He quickly looked around…

The crowd was at the edge of their seats…he could clearly see it in all their eyes…

Gekko continued to watch both fighters…neither seemed to give the other any edge…Though he would never admit it…both fighters were starting to creep him out…Naruto with his endless smile…and Gaara with a impassive face…

Gekko looked at his watch, 'Hmmm…it's been fifteen minutes since the two stopped fighting…can't keep it up forever…'

Gekko walked up to the two fighters… "I DECLARE THE MATCH A DRAW! AS NEITHER COMBATANT CAN MAKE A MOVE WITHOUT KILLING THE OTHER…"

Gekko sighed as he heard both fighters growl…though they didn't show any irritation in their faces…they both dropped their attacks…

Surprisingly the crowd started to cheer for BOTH combatants.

_---Hokage Seats---_

The third sighed, 'The first round is over…and only two combatants remain…very unusual.'

That's when the third felt a kunai press against his neck, he turned to see the Kazekage behind him, he sneered, 'So it starts…' he muttered, glad that he had sent Yamato and his other ANBU away earlier…

The 'Kazekage' pulled the Third backwards into the darkness…

_---The Arena---_

Naruto was about to walk back up the steps, when he noticed something; many of the people in the seats were starting to fall asleep…

"NARUTO WATCH OUT!" He heard Sakura shriek. Naruto turned and quickly ducked under a kunai attack that would have killed him.

Kakashi appeared right in front of Naruto and knocked out the sound nin that was holding the kunai. Kakashi pulled something out of his pouch and flick it over to Naruto, "A soldier pill…eat it quickly…"

Naruto quickly swallowed it.

Kakashi ran off and quickly started fighting two more sound nins…

'What the hell is going on?'

**"Idiot! It's obvious an invasion…Ahhh…this should be fun…blood and destruction is in the air…"**

'Shut up…' Naruto thought to the fox as he quickly ran towards where everyone else was.

He met up with the rest of the Rookie 9, minus Sasuke. Haku, Lee, Tenten, and Neji were there as well…

"We've got to do something!" yelled Lee…

"NO! YOU have to return to the medical area!" scolded Tenten.

Lee sighed…

Haku rose from her spot, "Lee I'll help you get to a shelter…"

Lee sighed again but nodded.

"I'll help you…" claimed Tenten…

"Me to…" said Hinata…

The four nodded and ran off…

Naruto stared at the Arena. Gaara, who looked like he had a huge headache, was being carried off by Temari and Kankuro. Sasuke was quickly following them…He looked another way and saw that Rei, the Hayate representatives, and other nobles being led out of the arena by some ANBU.

Naruto quickly followed them.

"SASUKE-KUN!", Sakura shrieked as she followed them

The rest of the ninjas split off

_---Outsie the Arena---_

Naruto ran out of the arena and took a look around. He saw that Rei, the Hayates, and the other nobles were nowhere in sight… 'Man they're fast…'

Naruto looked around and quickly saw multiple giant snakes attacking the Konaha walls.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw a Giant toad, wearing a blue, opened, robe and equipped with a tanto.

**"GRRRRR! THAT FROG!"**

'I think it's a toad...'

**"SHUT UP!"  
**

Naruto quickly saw what looked like a barrier created entirely of fire.

Naruto sighed, 'Better go after Sasuke…'

Naruto turned to see Shino and Shikamaru behind him.

"If you're going after Sasuke, I'll come to…"

"It's troublesome…but I'll accompany you as well…"

Naruto nodded and the three ran off…

_---The forest---_

Naruto, Shino, and Shikamaru were following a the path that Gaara and Ssuke went

The three fighters paused when they saw a group of sound nin appear behind them.

"I'll take care of this troublesome task…you guys keep on moving…"

Naruto and Shino nodded before running off…

_---Deeper into the forest---_

Naruto and Shino continued jumping along the trees.

"Wait!", Shino muttered as the two fighters both landed on the next tree…

Naruto looked around, "Why?"

Shino held his hand up… "MOVE"

Both leaf nins jumped off of the branch that they were standing on just in time to avoid a flurry of kunai. Kankuro appeared on the branch, with his puppet Karasu…

"It'd be best if you let me handle him…you go after Sasuke…"

Naruto nodded and ran off…

Kankuro sneered at the situation… 'Great…I'm still stuck with the bug guy…how great…'

_---Forest Clearing---_

Naruto landed on a tree branch, very close to both Gaara and Sasuke…In the corner of his eye he could see Sakura bounded to a tree by sand…He took a good look at Gaara and his eyes widened. Half of Gaara's face was mutated into what looked like a Tanuki, and his right arm was enormous and mutated. 'What the hell…he's turned into some kind of monster…'

**"Shukaku…"**

'Who?'

**"The Ichibi (One-tail). Another Biju like me…He has control over sand and wind…Seems like someone idiot sealed him into the kid…that Gaara brat is exactly like you…"**

Naruto's eyes widened at this prospect…

Sasuke did a change of handseals, "**Ryuusei Sumasshu!**" He concentrated an orb of fire into his hand. He jumped at Gaara and hurled his attack into the sand nin. Gaara's sand quickly rose to block the attack…when the fire orb connected with the sand, it sent flames out towards Gaara…

When the flames cleared, it revealed that Gaara was covered by a large shield of glass…

Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw Gaara smile through the glass…Sasuke tried to jump away but before he could the shield of glass exploded outwards…Glass shards stabbed Sasuke in the arms, legs, and even the neck…however he quickly turned into a log…

Naruto looked to his right to see Sasuke hiding behind a tree branch; his right arm had pieces of glass through it…other than that he was fine.

Naruto rose from his crouching position, 'I guess now's the time…'

It was at this time that Gaara noticed Naruto, Gaara grinned and started doing hand seals…Sand gathered around the transformed Gaara and once again formed a sphere just as Gaara muttered, "**Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu (Forced Sleep Technique)!**"

**"Shit!"**

'What's he doing?'

**"A Transformation…"**

Naruto's eyes widened as the sand sphere started increasing in size. After a few seconds it quickly started to disperse, sending sand upward…then the sand started to take the shape of some kind of animal…

** "A Tanuki…"**

The Tanuki was starting to tower above every tree in the forest… The biju was a light brown color, obviously do to the fact that it was made of sand, though it did have blue markings around his body. Dark black eyes with small yellow pupipls. And finally a humongous tail that was probably twice as long as Shukaku was…

'Any ideas…'

**"Don't die…"**

'Oh great…I would never have thought of that one…'

Kyuubi chuckled, **"Ok…in all seriousness, you remember that jutsu Yamato gave you a few weeks ago?"**

Naruto nodded his head. '**Hokage Shiki Jijun Jutsu: Kakuan Nitten Suishu.**'

**"That's the one…Yamato said it could reverse the effects of a Biju…what your going to do is save YOUR own chakra and smack the kid with the technique the second you get the chance. You won't be able to use MY chakra to power up that technique, I don't think EITHER of us will like the outcome…"**

'Great…so if I'm saving my chakra for THAT technique…how do I fight the squirrel…'

**"Heh…squirrel…I gotta remember that one…"** chuckled Kyuubi, **"I'll pump you full of MY chakra…Not only will your plants be stronger, but you'll be able to create a LOT more of them."**

Naruto's eyes widened somewhat…they have never done that before…

**"I'm only going to give you about one tails worth of chakra…that way you won't go feral during the battle and get us BOTH killed doing something stupid…You must remember two things though… The first thing is that you'll need some kind of anchor to the ground to use your Mokuton jutsus…if you get trapped by sands, Shukaku will block your chakra from passing through to the ground and we'll both die…"**

Naruto nodded, 'And the second?'

**"Whatever happens I want you to know…that I never really liked you…"**

Naruto's eye twitched…

**"He's finishing his transformation…"**

Naruto turned to the Tanuki and his eyes widened, 'It's as big as a mountain…'

Naruto shuddered as he felt Kyuubi pumping him full of the demonic chakra, at the same time Naruto's eyes turned red and slitted. Naruto's whisker marks also darkened and widened.

Naruto growled and began doing the hand seals that he'd become accustomed to, "**Makai Oni Jin Kuchini Shokubutsu no Jutsu (World of Spirits Demon Man Eating Plant Technique)**", he muttered the new name for his demonic pumped jutsu.

A giant demonic plant burst out of the ground and Naruto quickly jumped on the bulb that signified the plant's mouth. The plant continued to grow straight up high until it was half as tall as Shukaku, the bulb was about four times as big as Naruto, the stem was about two meters in diameter. Naruto could see Gaara slumped over Shukaku's forehead, buried up to his waist; Gaara was obviously sleeping. 'Why is he sleeping?'

**"He fell asleep to give Shukaku full control over his body; Shukaku having better control of wind and sand is obviously much stronger. You'll never be able to get close enough to Gaara to use your technique as long as Shukaku is in control…you'll have to wake the boy up."**

Naruto smirked, 'Why don't I just kill him with the demonic form of my Moon Leaves? Drain him dry of blood?'

**"NO! If you're going to kill him, do it after you hit him with the technique, otherwise Shukaku may find someway to gain control, then he may be nearly unstoppable."**

Naruto grinned again.

It was about this time that Shukaku noticed the boy riding on the plant…after a few moments his eyes widened, **"Is that you Kyuubi?"**, asked the giant Tanuki.

Naruto looked straight at Shukaku, "Kyuubi is in the same position with me, as you are with Gaara…"

**"HA! The great Kyuubi no Kitsune was captured by mere humans. How rich!"** Shukaku laughed.

**"Grrrr…RIP HIS THROAT OUT BRAT!"** The Kyuubi growled.

**"I'll finish you off with one attack!" Shukaku opened his mouth and breathed in.**

**"FIND COVER! He's about to blast you with a ball of Air! It'll smash you into the ground!"**

Naruto's eyes widened as he racked his brain, within a second he realized he had only one option; Naruto quickly jumped into the air, and his Demon plant looked up and opened his maw, catching Naruto it's mouth and gently closing it.

**"Fuuton Renkuudan (Wind Release: Compressed Air Ball)!"** Shukaku spat out a ball of air, at the demon plant, bending it backwards. Luckily for Naruto though, the plant's roots held… "Grrr…you won't be saved by one plant boy…"

Just as Shukaku had said that, four more plants, equal in size to the first, burst out of the ground and rose around Shukaku. The four new plants opened their maws and latched onto Shukaku.

Shukaku growled as the plants sunk their teeth into him…He quickly raised his tail and used it to smack the plant that Naruto was in. The plant's roots broke and it was sent flying; it's mouth opening at the same time releasing Naruto, however just as quickly as it happened, 'Naruto' transformed into a log. Shukaku growled again as he looked for Naruto…Five more plants burst out of the ground around Shukaku and latched onto him.

Using a free arm, Shukaku started ripping the plants off of him, his tail being to large to hit the plants that were too close to him.

By the time Shukaku finished pulling all the plants off, ripping them out of the ground at the same time, seven more demonic plants rose around him and latched onto him…

**"ARE YOU GOING TO HIDE FOREVER BOY? KYUUBI!"** Growled the Tanuki, **"Fuuton Renkuudan!"** Shukaku opened his mouth and started blasting wave after wave of compressed air balls out all over the forest.

_---Sasuke---_

Sasuke was quickly running away from the scene, with the winds rushing all around him from the wind balls explosions; with the recently released unconscious Sakura in his arms, He had use his flame taijutsu to CAREFULLY melt SOME of the sand into glass and shatter it, though he melted the sand that was NOT touching the pink haired ninja; after he shattered some of it, the rest of it fell apart. He looked back to the giant Tanuki, '…Naruto…', growled Sasuke, 'Yet again…you are stronger than I am…How…'

_---Shukaku vs Kyuubi Naruto---_

Shukaku finally finished blasting compressed balls of air all around him and started ripping plants off of his body once again…Just as quickly though, eight more grew in there place. This time only seven of them latched onto Shukaku. Shukaku quickly ignored the eighth plant and quickly concentrated on the other seven.

The eighth plant quickly got into a crouching-like position, the plant opened it's maw and let Naruto jump out of it and get on top of its head. Naruto crouched down as well, concentrating chakra to his feet at the same time… The plant quickly whipped it's head up and forward, Naruto using chakra and the plants momentum to spring high into the air, straight towards Gaara.

Naruto managed to rise about five meters above Gaara, and he threw a large rock in the straight at the red headed boy, smashing the sand nin in the head…

Shukaku's eyes widened,** "NOOOO! I JUST WOKE UP!"**, the tailed beast screamed as Gaara woke back up, a big bruise on his head.

Gaara growled, 'He dispelled my jutsu.'

Naruto started doing hand seals, this time adding his own chakra to his hand seals. **"Hokage Shiki Jijun Jutsu: Kakuan Nitten Suishu!"** Naruto screamed as a seal appeared on his right hand, the Kanji 'Seat.'

As Naruto got close enough to Gaara; Gaara used sand to grab a hold of Naruto's limbs…

Gaara's growled as he met up with Naruto's grinning face, and just as quickly Naruto smashed his head into Gaara's, releasing him from Gaara's sand, afterwards the blonde smashed his palm into Gaara's naval, causing a stream of chakra to connect between the two.

Gaara growled as he felt Naruto's human chakra surge into him, taking away the remainder of the effects of Shukaku's demonic chakra, coursing through him, completely separating both into two separate beings once again, or at least as separate as a Jinchuriki could be…however, Naruto quickly shuddered as he felt a backlash effect from his OWN jutsu, and he quickly found himself deaf to Kyuubi's words…

'Actually this can't be too bad…', laughed Naruto in his mind.

With Shukaku's demon chakra gone, Gaara could no longer maintain the form of Shukaku, and the sand started to dissipate…

Then, unfortunately for the two nins, their was no where else to go…but down…

_---The third---_

The third slumped to the ground, broken…bruised…dead…

The noble Sarutobi fell and would not get back up…but he did not die invane…

He sealed the souls of the previous two Hokages so they could never be used again…and…

Orochimaru growled as he stared at his black, dead arms… 'Damn you…you old fool!' The sound four appeared right in front of Orochimaru… "We're retreating…MOVE!"

The four nodded as the five sound nins disappeared.

_---Naruto and Gaara---_

Both Jinchuriki fell to the ground…both of them physically drained…some blood streaming from their heads…

Gaara's scowl once again met Naruto's grin.

"How…how…were you able to…defeat me…I…am the…container of Shukaku…" growled the red head…

Naruto smirked, "And I'm the container of Kyuubi…in the end we were both created by the same means…"

Gaara growled, "I'll kill you…"

Naruto continued to smile, "That's your second problem…for some reason you decided to spend your life in a homicidal rage…"

Gaara's eyebrow raised, "And your different…TELL ME. Tell me what makes you this powerful?"

When Gaara asked the question, Naruto quickly started thinking…he thought about Rei…Iruka…Sakura…Sasuke…Kakashi…Yamato…Old man Hokage…Konahamaru, Moegi, and Udon…he thought about his class mates of the rookie nine…as well as Gai's team…lastly he thought about Haku…_"I personally think that your strength is determined by your precious people…I think that if you have a lot of people to protect…that will make you strong…"_

Naruto eyes widened slightly, 'What the hell am I thinking about…'

Naruto let out a small chuckle, "I'm fighting…for my own survival…your fighting for genocide…in the end our goals clash…your objective denies mine…and my desire goes against yours…I can't explain what it is that makes me so powerful Gaara…But I'll tell you that you won't find strength, or a purpose, in massacring everyone that comes in your path." Naruto chuckled, "You know…in another time…in another life…I think the two of us could have become the best of friends…"

Gaara's eyes widened, "Friends…" He quickly narrowed his eyes at Naruto, "Ridiculous…I have no need for such things…"

Naruto shrugged, "I used to think the same thing…but to be honest…I've grown somewhat fond of the people I've come to know as my teammates…In the end, I think they're part of the reason I didn't turn out to be completely like you…"

Gaara's eyes widened, "I…I…I…"

"Have a brother and sister that love you, even though they are terrified of you…if you want friends…let them be your first…" Naruto laughed…

Gaara continued to stare at the smiling boy…

Temari appeared right next to Gaara, "Are you alright…"

Gaara nodded, "Yes…"

Temari grabbed a kunai from her pouch and looked at Naruto with a sneer.

"NO! Leave him…"

Temari stared at Gaara in shock…but didn't disobey him. She quickly pulled her younger brother over her shoulder and started dragging him away…

Kankuro, a little bruised, met up with them a little ways down, he helped Temari carry Gaara.

"Temari…Kankuro…thank you…" muttered Gaara as he lost consciousness…

The two sand nins looked at each other in shocked before continuing the carry Gaara off…

Naruto sighed as he lost consciousness.

_---Sasuke and Sakura---_

Sasuke sat on the ground, resting his bruised body.

Sakura opened her eyes and saw Sasuke… "SASUKE-KUN! You saved me!"

Sasuke sighed, "It was only because Naruto distracted Gaara that I was able to save you…it looks like Naruto defeated him as well…"

Sakura's eyes widened, "Naruto did that…"

Sasuke nodded.

_---Haku---_

The browned haired girl landed in the clearing and quickly found Naruto…

She stared at the unconscious boy as she slowly walked up to him…

She kneeled down beside them and grabbed one of her kunai, slowly moving it to his neck…

Her face was full of indecision…

* * *

**A/N: CLIFF HANGER! I hope you enjoyed it...**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter... "Twins Reunited"**


	11. Reunion!

**Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N:Ok for the most part people liked the last chapter...i'm glad...Now most of you have been waiting for this since the beggining of the story...so i hope i won't dissapoint you...but first you should know a few things...**

** 1) I burrowed an idea from a fan art i saw over in saw it a long time ago and could never find it again...so i can't give credit to the author...SO I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT I DON'T OWN THE IDEA...i won't tell you which one it is until the ending author's notes.**

**I have a few other ending author's note so please read those if you're intersted. **

**Enjoy.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Reunion.**_  
_

_---Clearing---_

The girl was briefing heavily…her next decision would decide whether she would be forced to leave her new home, which she has grown very fond of, or continue to live with the guilt of not being able to save the one person that she desperately cared about.

She was shaking hard…normally she would never let her emotions show when she was about to kill someone, even though she detested the idea of killing. This person prevented her from saving her special person, the man she considered a father; but at the same time he saved her from a young death, and through his cruel words…was responsible for her 'father' giving her the praising that she so desperately desired to hear from the man, even if they were merely words.

In the end she sighed and placed the kunai back into her pink kimono… 'Perhaps I have rusted…', she thought sadly.

She got up and looked in the direction of Konoha, and moment later she heard someone chuckle behind her, "I appreciate the concern Haku…but I really didn't need a haircut, so thanks for stopping…"

She turned and glared at him with tears in her eyes, "Just be quiet…", she snapped with ice in her words, "You just don't understand anything at all…"

Naruto, who had his eyes closed the whole time, finally opened them and glance at the girl, "Probably not…"

Haku just turned and started to walk away, "You don't know what it's like to lose a father…I've lost two…"

Naruto chuckled again, "I don't know what it's like to HAVE a father. My bastard…**father**…", Naruto spat the last word out like it was poisoned, "…sacrificed me to a bunch of ungrateful bastards when I was only a few hours old…and since then I've been hated for something that I have absolutely no control over…" By this time Haku had stopped walking away from the Kitsune…her eyes were wide…

She turned to him, "They hate you…for something that you can't control?"

Naruto nodded, groaning slightly due to the huge bruise on his head, where he head butted Gaara, which was slightly bleeding. "Yup…"

She sighed, "I know how that feels…"

Naruto didn't make any indication that he heard Haku…he just flashed her a smile, "Human's are such selfish creatures…"

Haku glared at him, "You talk as if you're not human…"

"Maybe I'm not…Humans are such pathetic creatures…I'd be happy if I weren't classified as one of them. Besides, they don't see me as human", he said gesturing towards the village, "Why should I consider myself one of them…"

Haku looked at him sadly… "Maybe we aren't so different after all…"

"Under different circumstances…I'd agree with you. But to be honest, even if we have somewhat similar pasts, you and me aren't that much alike; the only one who deserves that title would be Gaara", he muttered the last part to himself.

The two ninjas heard something ruslting in the trees. They turned to see Sakura and Sasuke jump through them.

Sakura rushed over to Naruto, "Are you two ok?"

Naruto flashed her his normal apathetic smile, "I'm fine…though I wasn't smacked around by sand…" he lied somewhat.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched as she resisted the urge to smack the temporarily injured Kitsune.

"Enough, I think the fighting has stopped…so lets go back…" He muttered as he walked over to Naruto and placed the fox jinchuriki on his back.

_---Somewhere far away---_

A horse drawn carriage was moving down the road. By the way the driver, carriage, and horses looked; one could assume that the people inside were of royalty. Walking beside the carriage were four ANBU.

Inside the carriage sat three people…One was an old man, dressed in royal blue robes. He had gray hair and a gray beard. The second was an old woman, dressed in a royal blue kimono. She also had long gray hair.

The last was a beautiful teenage girl. She had long, braided, blonde, hair. Her eyes were deep cerulean. She wore a flowered purple kimono. On her lap sat a **Sansetsukon (Three piece staff)**. The pieces of it were a crimson red.

The old woman smiled, "Soon we'll be in Konaha…"

The teenager sneered inwardly, 'Soon…soon I will get more revenge…Naruto Uzumaki…"

_---A week later---_

Naruto was walking down the road, dressed in a black outfit, his whisker marks hidden by bandages.

This is one of the only times the villagers have seen him without his trademark apathetic smile, in years. His eyes were red and puffy, obviously from crying…

Just thinking back to the events of the day made him want to continue crying.

_---Flashback, about an hour ago---_

_The Third's funeral…every ninja in the village was there to give their respect to the old man, except some ANBU who had guard duty and would pay their respects later._

_Naruto was there. Sasuke and Kakashi were to his side, at his right respectively. Sakura and her parents were to the right of Kakashi. The rest of the Rookie nine, as well as Gai's team followed Sakura, along with their parents and their Jounin-senseis. To Naruto's left was Iruka, holding a bawling Konahamaru. The head's of all the clans were their, as well as Rei and Yoko, the former head of the Hayate clan._

_Somebody…was giving a very moving speech about the Third, but Naruto never bothered to learn her name. All he knew of her was that she was another one of those asshole council members, and she was one of the Third's old teammates. Next to her stood Sarutobi's other teammate and Jiraiya._

_Naruto sighed in depression. He couldn't find the strength to raise his smile at a time like this. He felt his eyes stinging, and kept expecting himself to start crying for the third Hokage._

**"H-ey He-y HEY! Did you hear that? I think the effects of the Shodaime's jutsu are starting to wear off…Can you hear me?"**

Naruto's eyes widened and the tears finally fell, "NOOOOOO…" he cried out as he close his eyes…tears falling like waterfalls…His legs buckled from under him and he fell to his knees…

He felt people approach him…He opened his eyes to see Sakura, Rei, Haku, Kakashi, Iruka, Konahamaru, and even Sasuke come up to him, all with worried faces, though you really couldn't tell with Kakashi.

Naruto looked pass them towards the Third's casket and started muttering, "Why couldn't it have been me…" over and over again…

Some of the older ninjas looked at him sadly for the first time, "The Third Hokage was the only one who truly did care about the boy...the child must be trully saddened by his death..." some ninjas muttered.

---End flashback---

**"Geez…you would think that I complicate and ruin your life to the point where you don't even want me around…"**

Naruto felt the tears sting his eyes again, 'I'm not even going to dignify that question with a respone…'

The fox shrugged in his cage, **"So…anyway…I think the reason the Shodaime's Jutsu effected us so badly had to do with two reasons. First off, because you were the user of the technique…being a jinchuriki yourself and all. And Secondly, because you used it on another jinchuriki, the whole backlash thing and all…"**

Naruto shrugged, not really caring that much…

Naruto walked back to his apartment, picking up his mail at the same time…

He opened his door walked in and started reading his shuffling through his mail, "Bills, hate mail, hate mail, blackmail, threat, hate mail, threat, threat, what!" Naruto paused as he found one letter, "very important, from the council…" Naruto tore it open and pulled out the contents, "We are please to announce that you have preformed excellently in the chunin exams…blah blah blah…spirit of leaf…passion of fire…blah blah…you are to be promoted to chunin…" Naruto smiled, not a fake smile…a real smile for the first time in a long time…

---Jiraiya---

Jiraiya was sitting on top of a building after the funeral. He quickly felt two chakra signatures appear behind him, "Forget it…"

Koharu and Homura sighed, but Koharu spoke up, "Please Jiraiya…think of the village…we need a strong hokage."

Jiraiya shrugged, "I may be strong…but I wouldn't make a good Hokage", he said but thought, 'Yea right…screw myself here, when I could be doing my research in less guarded areas…they must be out of their minds.'

Homura sighed, "Will you not reconsider? Even for the village?"

Jiraiya shrugged again, "I AM doing this for the village…like I said I wouldn't make a good Hokage…but…I think I know someone who would…"

Koharu and Homura leaned forward in anticipation…

---Naruto and Sakura---

Naruto woke up to someone banging on his door…He got up, grudgingly, and started to walk to the door. He opened it, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!"

Sakura's eyes widened, "I thought you were always smiling…"

Naruto's growled, "Far to early…come back in…" Naruto looked pass Sakura to the sun, to check the time, "…in about three hours…"

Sakura cocked her head to the side, "Ten o' clock? I thought Kakashi's training would help you wake up earlier than that…"

Naruto sighed and turned around muttering, "What training…" as he walked deep inside his apartment.

Sakura walked in after him; noting the trashed apartment, graffiti covered walls, but mostly the large packed bag. "Are you going on a trip?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Something like that…Why did you come bug me…"

Sakura sighed and grabbed something from her pocket, a rolled up newspaper, and handed it to Naruto.

Naruto read the front page, the top article, "Yondaime's long lost daughter is finally returning to Konaha…" He muttered/growled as his eyes changed to red-slitted ones. He quickly started ripping the paper apart.

Sakura sighed, "Wasn't done reading that…", she muttered. "It's weird; because I didn't even know he had a daughter, or any children at that…according to the article she was hiding under the alias of her mother's maiden name, her grandfather being the Lord of Fire country." She looked at him for a long time, "You know…she was supposedly born on October 10th, same day as the Kyuubi attack. To be honest with you, I've recently lost all respect for the Fourth…he sealed the demon fox in YOU, when he could've sealed it in his own daughter…it just doesn't seem fair…that he spared HIS child, but damned another." Sakura looked at Naruto again, a slightly playful expression in her eyes… "Just weird…"

Naruto sighed, "You're to smart for your own good Sakura…"

Sakura squealed, "I KNEW IT! After thinking about it…you really do look a lot like the fourth Hokage, a younger version him at least. You were born on October tenth as well…so you must be twins right…"

Naruto nodded.

Sakura squealed again, "So you are twins! This means that you will both meet for the first time in only a day or two…You two will have so much to talk about…"

Naruto shook his head, "Nope…"

Sakura snapped her neck in his direction, "No? But she's your sister…"

"Don't care…I'm leaving anyways…"

Sakura looked at him curiously, "What do you mean leaving?"

"Before he died…I got a contract with the third hokage stating that once I become a chunin…I may leave the village." Naruto tossed Sakura his letter, "Guess what…"

"You've been promoted…" she said with wide eyes… "But what about your sister…"

"The hell with her…I don't want to meet the my parents favored child…"

And at that Sakura understood it all, "Naruto…that's ridiculous…I'm sure that if your parents could have…they would have found a way to save you as well…but it just didn't work out that way. As for her…she didn't have a choice to be the one who was saved; if she did, I'm sure she would have taken your role as the container easily…

Naruto sighed… he hated to admit it but Sakura had a point.

"In the end…neither of you had a choice on anything that happened…"

Naruto sighed again.

**"Don't weaken boy…don't go back to the light…"**

'Shut up…'

Sakura sighed, "Why don't you stay another day or two? You can meet your sister…and if you still want to leave afterwards…then leave." Sakura muttered the last part sadly…after everything that's happened between them, she didn't really want Naruto to leave…

Naruto thought about what Sakura said…after a while he sighed and nodded, "Very well…I'll meet her…and then I'll leave…"

Sakura smiled.

_---The next day---_

The sun rose quickly into the morning sky. The carriage arrived through the gates of Konaha. The villagers started crowding around the carriage as it came to a halt, though the ANBU kept them at bay.

Many people came to give their respects, including some note worthy clan heads and council members. Off to the side somewhere, were two ninjas from team 7. Sakura and Naruto were both to the side, hiding in an alleyway.

Naruto sighed, "I can't stay here…if anyone sees me waiting for her…they'll assume the worse…"

Sakura sighed, "You don't actually think someone will try to kill you just for wanting to take a look at the 'only child of the fourth' do you?

Naruto laughed, "No…they'll probably just stick me with about eight or nine warning kunai to the back…poisoned tipped and with explosive tags."

Sakura sighed, "We'll come back later then…I wanted to go visit Sasuke-kun anyway…I think Ino-pig is trying to pull something…"

Naruto rolled his eyes as the two ninjas walked away, though they caught the eye of one ninja.

Kakashi glanced to the side just in time to see the retreating two ninja and sighed, "Why do I sense that this won't end well…"

Rin snapped her head towards Kakashi, "You say something?"

Kakashi just shook his head.

_---Ichiraku---_

Naruto sat alone in the ramen stand as he thought about his situation…

Ayame walked up to him, "Here's your ramen Naruto…why the long face?" she asked Ichiraku's favorite customer worriedly.

Naruto regained his composure and almost blinded Ayame with his smile. "I'm fine…"

_---Hokage Tower---_

The royal trio walked into the Hokages tower to be greeted by Jiraiya, Homura, and Koharu.

"It is a pleasure to see you all… Takeru-sama, Izumi-hime…Yukina-hime…" Koharu greeted, the last name indicating the teenager…"

Takeru, Izumi, and Yukina nodded towards the three ninjas. Homura and Koharu bowed respectfully.

Takeru laughed, "Good morning you two…you said that you wanted to give my granddaughter something the moment she arrived", he said as he place his hand on Yukina's shoulder.

Homura and Koharu both looked grim for a moment, "I'm afraid that we'll have to wait a little bit longer, we already have a meeting taking place between some ambassadors from other hidden villages. We hope this isn't to big of an inconvenience."

Takeru waved it off, "Oh well…we can use the time to look around the village."

Izumi sighed, "I'm afraid I'll have to decline Takeru-kun. I was hoping to catch up on some sleep, I could barely catch a wink of sleep since we left."

Koharu grabbed something from her pocket, "Here…" She handed Izumi a set of keys. "We didn't arrange for any hotels…one of the things we wanted to give Yukina was her father's old mansion…it's already been cleaned recently. Tomorrow we'll be sending a few people their to act as servants."

Izumi smiled.

Jiraiya took a look at Yukina, noting the fact that she had a monotone look on her face since she got in. "Why don't I show you around the village?"

Takeru grinned at Jiraiya. The aged fire lord being a big fan of Icha Icha Paradise. "We'd be delighted Jiraiya-san…" He said as the four started walking out the door.

Jiraiya looked out the door to see a mob of people waiting for them. He looked at a few ANBU. "You five…we need a diversion." Jiraiya ordered.

The ANBU nodded and three of them took the form of Takeru, Izumi, and Yukina. The five ANBU walked out the door. Jiraiya and five ANBU snuck the royal family out another exit.

_---Somewhere in the village, a few hours later---_

Jiraiya, Takeru, and Yukina were walking down the road. Izumi had gone to the Kazama estate to rest, as did two ANBU to keep an eye on her. Jiraiya's group was currently being followed by three more ANBU… Luckily most of the village was following the doppelgangers of the royals, so the streets were almost completely deserted.

Jiraiya and the ANBU, composed of the retired ANBU captain Kakashi, the ANBUs top medic nin Rin, and the new ANBU captain Yamato, all sensed a familiar chakra signature following them…and though they knew it was necessary…they didn't like it.

Naruto stood a few meters away and was currently following Jiraiya's group. Naruto sighed as he continued. It was by luck that he managed to find them, as they passed by the deserted Ichiraku ramen stand. After thinking it over for a while Naruto decided to make himself known to the group…He jumped off the building he was currently on and landed a few yards from the group.

Jiraiya, Rin, Kakashi, and Yamato all sensed him even before he decided to reveal himself. Takeru and Yukina were another story completely…they sensed him for the first time the second he landed, the former not having ninja training, though being a skill fighter none the less, and the latter not being as skilled as the other four.

Yukina turned to look at the ninja that had been following them. Her eyes widened when she saw his face, 'Whisker marks…' She growled as she reached behind her and grasped her three-piece staff and launched herself at Naruto, "NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

Naruto's eyes widened as she brought one piece of her Sansetsukon on Naruto's head, smashing in his skull.

_---Uchiha Estate---_

Sasuke was currently training, 'I got to get stronger…if I can't even match Naruto…how am I ever going to match Itachi…' Sasuke growled as fire danced around him.

Sakura and Ino were arguing to the side, about some nonsense…

Sasuke sighed inwardly, 'I keep changing the locks and those two still get inside…maybe I should get some guard dogs…'

Sasuke started concentrating all of his flames, compressing it all to a single spot…

_---The twins---_

Takeru gasped as Yukina's Sansetsukon made contact with Naruto's head… Jiraiya and the ANBU didn't appear distress at all; they always expected something like this to happen, though they expected the positions to be reverse.

Yukina grinned as she saw that her attack connected, but growled as 'Naruto' turned into a log…

Naruto appeared a few yards to her left, his head was down and his Hitai-ate had disappeared.

Yukina turned towards Naruto and glared at him, "Only prolonging the inevitable…I will destroy you for what you have done to me and this village…NINE-TAILED FOX!"

The older ninja cringed as she screamed that last part. Takeru sighed, "Yukina…you're wrong…you need to understand that Naruto…"

"ENOUGH! The fox nearly destroyed the village…father died sealing it inside of that shell", she said indicating Naruto's body, "…this…thing…must die for its crimes…."

Naruto didn't make any indication that he heard her…he just kept looking at the ground… "Tell me…what have I done to you…any of you…"

Yukina sneered, "BECAUSE OF YOU MY FATHER AND MOTHER ARE DEAD…DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD MY LIFE HAS BEEN BECAUSE OF YOU! DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE AN ONLY CHILD GROWING UP WITHOUT A FATHER OR MOTHER!" She screamed with tears in her eyes…

The elder ninja cringed again and Takeru looked at her disappointingly…

Jiraiya sighed, 'Ok…letting these two work it out for themselves…was a HORRIBLE idea…maybe I should stop this…' The ANBU were thinking more or less the same thing.

Naruto however…only caught two words… 'only child' …It made him think back to his mother's last letter to him…

**_...I never thought that I'd be damning one of my own children to save another..._**

'So that's what she meant…she didn't mean that she was separating us…she meant that she was practically erasing the fact that we are even related…' thought the kitsune…"Hahahahahaha…" Naruto laughed…

Yukina sneered as she got into her fighting stance, holding the outer pieces of her staff with each hand. "You dare laugh at me…", she growled…

Naruto, for the first time since he did **Kawarimi**, looked to face Yukina…his eyes were red and slitted. His whisker-marks became larger. He was smiling…not a happy smile…not an apathetic smile…but a malicious smile…the same smile Gaara had when he was fighting Rock Lee…

Kyuubi was actually terrified by this point as he felt his chakra start to leave her, ** 'He's taking chakra from me…he shouldn't be able to do that without my consent…'** Kyuubi thought to himself…Kyuubi started laughing nervously as he moved to the deepest part of Naruto's mind…

Naruto continued to laugh, "Are you going to come after me little girl? Don't you want to avenge your pathetic mom and dad", he laughed partially lying.

Yukina sneered as she launched herself at Naruto, attempting to smash his head in again… Naruto placed his hand into the air, grasping the weapon quickly. The impact hurt Naruto's hand, though Kyuubi's chakra quickly numbed the pain.

Yukina quickly kicked Naruto in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards.

She quickly tried to smash Naruto again, but in her rage missed Naruto's hand seals. A demonic plant exploded from the ground and caught Yukina's staff in its maw, raising it high into the air, ripping it out of her hands. Naruto quickly launched himself at the girl and kicked her in the naval, knocking the wind out of her. He attempted to hit her again, but she quickly jumped back and started doing hand seals. **"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" **she screamed as she blew a giant fireball at Naruto. The Fireball engulfed Naruto, though he switched himself with a log again, using **Kawarimi**. The flames however consumed the demonic plant quickly.

The plant dropped Yukina's staff, as the plant easily burnt to dust…

Yukina saw no sign of Naruto, so she quickly ran over to grab her staff…but something stopped her… "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Shokubutsu Funkei no jutsu (Wood Release Secret Technique: Plant Decapitation Technique)!**"

Five small demonic plants burst from the ground, grabbed her legs by biting them, and dragged her into a ground. She growled as this happened.

She was buried up to her neck.

Naruto appeared in front of her, holding his demonic plant sword. He pointed it at her neck.

She was about to yell at him, but stopped. He wasn't smiling any more…his face was twisted into a look of utter anger and hatred…The killer intent radiating from him was almost enough to stop her heart…it froze her…

Naruto stood there for a moment before raising his sword to finish the girl off…as he lowered the sword the older ninja went into action.

Kakashi and Yamato both slammed into Naruto, holding him to the wall of a nearby building, face first, each holding one of his arms…

Rin and Takeru quickly dug Yukina out of her whole, but she quickly pushed the two aside.

Naruto was growling, "Let go of me…damn…YOU LET ME GO!"

Kakashi sighed, "Naruto…calm yourself…"

"KEEP HOLDING HIM!" screamed the girl.

The three elder ninjas turned to see Yukina holding something…

Kakashi's visible eye widened, "Rasengan…"

She launched herself at Naruto, ready to slam the spinning ball of chakra into him.

Kakashi and Yamato didn't budge, though they were ready to interfere if Yukina got to close…

They didn't have to…

Jiraiya appeared in front of Yukina, grabbed her arm, and smashed her hand against the wall, a few feet to the right of Kakashi, who was to the right of Naruto and Yamato. The Rasengan exploded and took out a big chunk of the wall. Yukina glared at Jiraiya, "SENSEI! What are you doing! We need to destroy the demon…"

Jiraiya growled at the girl… "If I had known that you would misuse that technique…I would never have taught it to you…" He said as he brushed pass the shocked girl… "Let him go…"

Kakashi and Yamato reluctantly let the boy go. Naruto launched himself at Yukina again, but was grabbed by Jiraiya, who disappeared doing **Shunshin no Jutsu**.

Kakashi sighed, 'At least Naruto didn't go all out…if he would've tapped deeper into the demonic chakra…everyone might have sensed it…' he sighed as he looked into the air, 'She may have attacked first...but SHE is _the daughter of the FOURTH_...while Naruto is merely _the Fourth's tool for containing the demon_...what a mess you've made your family into sensei...'

_---In a clearing---_

Naruto and Jiraiya appeared inside of a clearing…

Naruto, still partially feral, tried to punch Jiraiya. Jiraiya quickly caught his fist though…

Naruto quickly started launching a flurry of attacks on Jiraiya…

_---A few hours later---_

Yukina, Takeru, and Izumi were both sitting in the Hokage's office…the latter two had a disappointed look on their face.

Koharu and Homura were in front of them as they held out an envelope for them…

Koharu growled, "I'm sorry that, that rift raft was allowed so close to you…"

Yukina growled.

Takeru glared at her, "I do not see why he is so disrespected…according to Kizuna, my daughter, he has the Kyuubi sealed in him…"

Homura shook his head, "That child has been nothing but trouble ever since he was born…"

Takeru sighed, "But what has he done…Kyuubi destroyed the village…but what has Naruto done…"

Koharu growled again, "Just the fact that he's among us is an insult to the village…"

Takeru sighed, knowing that he wouldn't get a direct answer from these two… He thought back to his last conversation with his daughter…

She informed him of Arashi's fate…of the boy Naruto Uzumaki…she begged him to raise her daughter…and told him the fate of her son. He knew that Kizuna was pregnant with twins…but because of the Kyuubi…one died… He didn't have the heart to inform Yukina of this though. In the end…he had hope that she would get over her hatred for the boy…but it may be harder than he thought…

Koharu handed her an envelope. "This is the farewell letter from your father…"

Yukina opened it and pulled out a piece of paper…

_Dear Yukina,_

_Hello my daughter. If you haven't guessed yet...your old man is the Hokage...The fourth to be exact...Because of this I expect you to become much stronger than I was...and you BETTER BECOME STRONGER._

_Anyway...I just want to say I'm sorry...for everything that I'm most likely missing out on...birthdays...graduations...the first time you held a kunai._

_I hope you aren't being spoiled to badly…I hope the same applies to your brother._

_He better be looking out for you…he has unimaginable power inside of him…since I sealed the Kyuubi inside of him-_

Yukina's eyes widened.

_-Anways…I hope you two are fairing well. I wish I could write more…but I can hear the Kyuubi coming…heh make sure to learn **Kage Bunshin**…really cuts down on time…_

_Remember that I love you so much_

_Your father, Arashi Kazama._

_P.S. Don't let your brother become a pervert…_

Yukina's eyes were at there widest as tears fell from them…her knees buckled as she fell down…

The other four quickly ran to her…

_---Jiraiya and Naruto---_

Naruto panted as he lay on the ground…exhausted…

He was definitely wrong about the pervert…

Jiraiya proved to be quite strong…

"So ready to quit brat?"

Naruto didn't reply…

"Good…so pack your bags…I've got a little mission I need to do and you're coming with me…"

Naruto got up, "No…I'm leaving this hell hole for good…"

Jiraiya sighed, "You can't do that Naruto…"

Naruto grinned, "Actually I can…"

Jiraiya smirked, "Actually…you can't…I know all about your deal with Sarutobi…problem is that he didn't think of one problem with your deal. You aren't actually a chunin until the HOKAGE hands you your vest…"

Naruto's eyes widened…

"So…you and me are going to go find a Hokage…"

Naruto clenched his fist… "This retched village…"

Jiraiya sighed as he walked over to Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's one of the reasons I'm asking you to come along…we can spend a few weeks outside of the village, and hopefully by the time we get back…you'll only have to spend a few more days here…"

Naruto unclenched his fist… "Fine…lets go…"

Jiraiya nodded, 'Sad thing is…convincing Tsunade to come back may be even harder…'

_---A village far far away---_

A blonde woman sighed as she lost another hand of blackjack… "I'm sorry Tsunade-hime…"

Tsunade got up and walked away… Her assistant, a black haired woman, holding a pig, walked behind her… "I guess it isn't your day Tsunade-sama…ummm have you ever tried playing poker? I've never seen you play that…"

Tsunade's eyes widened…

_---Flashback---_

_Three teenagers were sitting on the floor of an apartment building…_

_One boy had long black hair and was very pale…_

_Another boy had long spiky white hair and two markings on his cheeks…_

_The last was a girl, with blonde hair…_

_They were all holding poker cards._

_The two boys were laughing at the girl…The boys were fully dressed in kimonos…and the girl…_

_She was shivering…clad in only a pair of thin black lingerie._

_The boy with black haired chuckled… "You lose again Tsunade-hime…that means I get your bra…"_

_The boy with white haired stared laughing pervetedly, "Nice Orochimaru…"_

_---End Flashback---_

Tsunade's eyes were still wide before she said, "I don't…do…poker…Shizune…" as she walked away…

Shizune looked at her oddly before walking after her…

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed.**

** 1) The thing was that Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade poker scene. Yea i don't own that...**

**2) About Yukina's weapon...the idea for that came from the fact that i've never read a fic were a Naruto character was given a pair of Nunchaku...so i was originally going to do something with those...But then I played a game called "Suikoden 5". The main character their had a sweet Sansetsukon, which would convert into a regular staff. So i decided to do that instead. It later reinforced my idea when i saw the movie "Jet Li's Fearless"...weapon rocks... Anyway...now i'm rambling.**

**So...if you liked it please review...if you hated it please review...if you have a brain please review...  
**


	12. The Battle of the Legendary 3!

**Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto...**

**A/N: Yea...i know...you may be wondering why i took so long...you may be wondering why i posted two chapters at the same time...the simple answer is...this chapter was an absolute horror to write...The whole Tsunade thing...**

**Also...i've change my mind about something i said i'd do earlier...i found something more evil to do...**

**I hope you guys enjoy it (i hope my grammer is better)...  
**

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**Chapter 12: The Battle of the Legendary 3!**_---On the Road--- _

Jiraiya and 'ecstatic' new student were currently walking down the road, hoping to find any sign of Tsunade in the next town over.

All the while Jiraiya was thinking to himself… 'Now's as good a time as any…' Jiraiya quickly turned towards Naruto, who at the time was behind the older man. "Ok brat…I want to…teach…you…a technique that I created…a long time ago." … 'What the brat doesn't know won't hurt him, besides the ends justify the means…it'll give him a good jutsu to use against his enemies…'

Naruto shrugged, "A jutsu you created? I guess it couldn't hurt…"

Jiraiya mentally praised himself, "It's called the RA-" 'When I taught Yukina this jutsu…she recognized the name…what if he does to…' Jiraiya looked over to Naruto, who was staring at the older man intently. Jiraiya started sweating bullets, "Ra-I…mean" 'That technique was pretty famous…what if he recognizes the name and the real creator…' "**Icha…Icha…Jutsu: Jiraiya's….Rinji…Butoukai…no…Meiun**

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, "**Icha Icha Technique: Jiraiya's Ball of Doom**?"

Jiraiya just stared down at Naruto with a blank stare, for a few moments, 'I'm the author of the award winning legendary Icha Icha Paradise…and that's the best I could come up with? Great job moron.' "Yea…you have a problem with my naming skills?"

Naruto shrugged.

Jiraiya started rummaging through his bag, "The first step is to…"

_---Inn--- _

Naruto's eyes snapped open when he heard a knock at his door. He groaned and got up…slowly walking to the door. He opened the door; assuming that the person on the other side was Jiraiya…he was sorely mistaken.

He was met with two figures cloaked in black, with red clouds, both had straw hats covering a portion of their head. He first, the taller of the two, had something on his back, wrapped in bandages. The second, the shorter, was the one who spoke first, "Uzumaki Naruto…you will come with us…"

Naruto's instincts automatically caught on to the fact that these two felt like death; however he chose to deal with them, with the same means as he dealt with all adversity in his life, Naruto cocked an eyebrow to the side, "Sorry…my mommy says I shouldn't go places with strangers…something about pedophiles and what not…" Naruto muttered as he closed the door, the means by which he dealt with adversity being…sarcasm.

Naruto turned around, after he had closed the door completely, knowing full well that this could get ugly, he opted to grab the rest of his weapons from his bag quickly, only have two kunai on hand, he didn't have a chance to. The door burst open, the cheap wood breaking in two easily. Naruto quickly turned and threw one of his kunai as quickly as possibly. The larger man brought his weapon up to deflect the kunai easily; the kunai did however cut through the bandages enough for Naruto to tell that the weapon was indeed a sword. Naruto sighed, 'That damn pervert had to go screw around with some woman…didn't he…'

The smaller one quickly walked up in front of the taller figure, "Uzumaku Naruto…you WILL come with us…that is not an option."

Naruto sighed, "Geez…can't you find someone your own age…damn you two are just like Orochimaru…giving hickees to younger boys…"

The taller one sneered, "This kid is a little smart ass…hey Itachi, let me just cut off his legs…it'll be easier to bring him back to headquarters that way." The smaller one, now revealed to be Itachi, didn't say a word. The larger one grinned as he flicked off his hat…

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he saw the man's face…he looked like a shark. He had a slashed mist Hitai-ate on his head.

"Listen up brat…just stand still and I'll make this as quick as possibly", he said as he raised his sword…

Naruto's response was a grin, as he started doing a quick set of hand seals. "**Mokuton Hijutsu:-**" Naruto started

Itachi cocked his eyebrow up when he heard the name of the element.

"-**Jukai Kotan!**"Naruto finished as two giants roots burst from the floor in front of him and rushed the two figures.

The taller figure simply swung his sword, easily destroying the roots before they got to him or Itachi.

Naruto's didn't let it show, but he was getting nervous, 'Alright…so these guys mean business…this can't be good…'

"ITACHI!" Naruto heard a familiar voice.

Itachi simply turned around to see a boy he hadn't seen in years show up…Sasuke.

Sasuke glared at Itachi. Sasuke started charging his chakra as flames started to dance around him.

Itachi cocked an eyebrow once again, 'They are actually teaching these children something useful…much different than when I was a genin…'

Sasuke launched himself at Itachi. Itachi didn't even bother trying to avoid Sasuke's flames as he quickly grabbed Sasuke's outstretched hand, at the wrist. Just as quickly as he had grabbed the hand…Itachi snapped the wrist, making Sasuke scream in pain.

Sasuke's flames dissipated.

Itachi glared as Sasuke as he held on to him. "Foolish little brother…", muttered the older ninja. Itachi's eyes changed twice…at first into a fully matured Sharingan…and then into what looked like a three-pronged shurikan.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he stared into Itachi's eyes…suddenly the boy started howling in pain…this one much greater than the one he originally yelled.

Itachi dropped Sasuke in digust, "You still don't hate me enough…until you do…you will never be able to beat me…"

Itachi quickly turned behind him to see ten purple plants burst out of the floor, coming straight for him and Kisame.

Naruto watched as his demonic plants over ran both figures, one of the plants taking the time to SAFELY grab Sasuke, and moving him out of harms way. Naruto looked on as his plants burst through the doorway, damaging the walls at the same time, and bursting through the wall of the inn and outside.

Naruto sighed in relief…but almost as quickly stiffened when he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He turned to see Itachi, the hand, with Kisame standing right behind him.

Itachi pushed him hard, slamming the boy against the wall, slightly to the side of his plants. Kisame, faster than Naruto could see, disappeared and reappeared in front of him, swinging his sword in a horizontal manner, fully intending on cutting the boy's legs off.

Naruto clenched his eyes shut, not having the speed to do anything more, and waited for a impending doom. It never came. Naruto slowly opened his eyes to see the remenants of smoke and…a frog, of about his size, in front of him holding Kisame's sword.

Naruto smirked, 'I guess the pervert is useful…'

Kisame glared at the oversized toad in front of him.

Jiraiya quickly appeared behind Naruto, grabbing him, and pulling him to the side. After he released Naruto, the older man started doing hand seals, **"Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari (Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind)"**

Suddenly the area around Itachi and Kisame faded, and they found themselves in what looked like an esophagus.

Itachi quickly, summoning up his **Mangekyo Sharingan. "Amaterasu (Shining Heaven)!"**

Itachi blasted the side of the esophagus with jet-black flames, easily burning a hole through the side of it. "Kisame!" Itachi yelled as he jumped through the hole. Kisame quickly ran after him.

Jiraiya sighed as he released the jutsu…walking up to the black flames at the same time…He pulled out a scroll and quickly did a quick handseal, **"Fūka Hōin (Fire Sealing Method)!"** After he said that, the black fire started being consumed by the scroll…until it all disappeared.

Naruto quickly went to check on the unconscious Uchiha, noting that he was fine, though was twitching slightly.

_---A few weeks later--- _

Naruto and Jiraiya were on the road again, the former continuing to practice the Rasen-Jiraiya Special Ball of Doom…

After the battle with the two members of Akatsuki, a few jounins showed up and took Sasuke back to the village…apparently Kakashi was in the same condition as Sasuke…and only one person could help heal them out of the condition quickly…that person being Tsunade…

Jiraiya noted that Naruto was coming along quite well, already being on the third and final step, 'He's come so far in such a short amount of time…it took Arashi three years to create the technique…it took Yukina about one and a half years to learn that jutsu…at this rate he'll learn it in about a month.'

Jiraiya saw a sign up ahead, "Ok…I heard from a reliable source that she was up ahead in this village…"

Naruto nodded, though he didn't look up from his hand.

_---Village--- _

Naruto and Jiraiya both arrived in the village.

Jiraiya walked ahead, waving Naruto over behind him, "She's either at the nearest bar or casino…we'll start at the bar."

Jiraiya quickly walked into the closest bar…

Naruto started to follow when he heard growling in his head. **K "I smell snake…"**

Naruto cocked an eye to that statement, 'Snake? What importance could that possibly have?'

K "I don't know…how many snakes do you know?" 

Naruto sighed, 'You can't possibly mean that Orochimaru is nearby…'

The Kyuubi shoke his head, though Naruto couldn't see it, **"Not nearby anymore…though he was here a while ago…Now what are the chances that two of the most powerful ninja, both of whom were on the same team, are in the same village…coincidence?"**

Naruto sighed as he walked forward, 'I better tell the pervert…he'll want to know…' Naruto quickly walked into the bar. He looked around and saw Jiraiya with two women and a pig. One was a blonde. The second had black hair.

Naruto quickly walked towards the table; when he got their he noticed that the two woman were staring at him as he sat down next to Jiraiya, across from the two woman.

Jiraiya looked at Naruto, "These two are Tsunade", pointing at the blonde, "and her student Shizune" pointing at the woman with black hair. Jiraiya then looked at the two women, whilst patting the boy on the head, "This is Naruto…"

Tsunade took a moment to look at the eerily smiling blonde next to her old teammate, before looking back to the pervert, "What do you want Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya sighed, "I came to tell you that Sarutobi-sensei is dead…he died defending Konaha during an attack from both Sound and Sand…"

Tsunade shrugged

Jiraiya sighed, "We want to offer you the role of Hokage…"

"HA!" Tsunade started cracking up at the statement. "Like I would go back to that village to become Hokage…"

'Hmmm She's not that bad after all…'

Tsunade merely shrugged, "The old fool died and you want me to take his place?"

Naruto slightly tensed when she called the Third a fool…he didn't know why, but he didn't like her talking about him that way… "So you are Jiraiya's teammate?"

Tsunade turned towards Naruto, "Yea…what's it to you?"

Naruto shrugged, "Expected someone…" Naruto paused for a moment to switch his statement around, "younger…"

The second Naruto said that, expecting the reaction he would receive, he pushed himself backwards with his foot…he wasn't disappointed as Tsunade's fist came hurling in front of him.

When Tsunade found she was out of range for Naruto she turned and smacked Jiraiya in the side of the head, sending him flying against the wall.

Naruto chuckled at Jiraiya's situation, as Tsunade looked about ready to pounce on him.

Shizune quickly stood up, "Tsunade-sama please…he's just a child…"

Tsunade let out a sigh as she sat back down, still glaring at Naruto. "You'd be wise to show some respect brat…"

Naruto smirked at the older woman, "Like you showed respect to your deceased sensei…"

Tsunade growled, "Listen…you can go die for Konaha if you want….but don't expect me to lift a finger…"

"Ha! You think I give a damn about that village…the only thing I care about are my own dreams…that's why I came all the way out here to find you…but the fact of the matter is that any idiot in Konaha will do…I don't even know why we bothered to come find you…you don't look like anything special…"

Shizune's eyes widened as she stared at Tsunade, waiting for her response…

The older woman merely smirked, her bangs covering her eyes… "You have a smart mouth kid…unfortunately that won't take you anywhere except an early grave…"

Naruto smirked, "You look pretty close…save me a seat will you…"

At that Tsunade banged her hands on the table, smashing it to peices… "Obviously your parents never taught you any manners…"

Naruto shrugged, "Orphan…"

"Well why don't you step outside brat…I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget…" Tsunade mocked.

Naruto shrugged as he got up and made his way to the exit. Tsunade followed.

Shizune quickly grabbed a hold of Tonton and was about to follow Tsunade when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Don't try to stop her…Naruto possesses something that she needs to see and besides…I'm hoping she'll knock him around a bit…"

Shizune stared at Jiraiya in disbelief but followed his suggestion.

Outside they could see Naruto and Tsunade standing apart, facing each other.

Tsunade smirked, "Come on brat…I'll let you take the first hit…"

Naruto shrugged as he started doing handseals, "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan!**"

Tsunade's eyes widened when Naruto announced his attack.

Two ordinary roots burst out of the ground in front of Naruto, and quickly went straight towards Tsunade.

Tsunade quickly jumped out of the way, and onto a nearby building. She glared at Naruto, "Where did you learn that!"

Naruto started doing a set of hand seals, "Shut up!" A roots burst out of the ground under Naruto, launching him at Tsunade.

Naruto charged chakra to his hand… "**Icha Icha Jutsu**-…awe screw it…" muttered Naruto as he charges a Rasengan in his hand…it was far from perfect, as noted by Tsunade.

Tsunade quickly move to the side as Naruto's hand, with the Rasengan, came inches from her…she then quickly raised both fist inot the air and brought them down on the boy, slamming him towards the ground. Naruto went flying and slammed into the ground…

Tsunade jumped off the building, landing right next to Jiraiya and Shizune, the latter of the two who was gawking.

She turned towards Jiraiya, "What's the deal Jiraiya! How can he perform…Mokuton…Another Yamato?"

Jiraiya shrugged, "He's not like Yamato…and I can't give you a clear answer…except for the fact that he is a descendant of the First…"

Tsunade's eyes widened, "Impossible…there were only two of us left…now I'm the last descendant."

Jiraiya shook his head, "That's what I thought…but I recently did some research…it took me a while but I found out that Arashi was in fact a descendant of the First Hokage, his great grandchild to be in fact…making you and Naruto distant cousins.

Tsunade's eyes were at their widest. "It can't…be true…He's a descendant of my grandfather…that boy is a descendant of…the Fourth Hokage…"

"Not by choice mind you…" Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune turned to see a smiling Naruto behind them. Obviously he appeared the moment they mentioned him a descendant of the Fourth… He was smirking at Tsunade…

Tsunade's eye twitched, "I thought I would've knocked some sense into you?"

Naruto shrugged, "Get one lucky hit and you think you're the queen of the world…I thought such an old ninja would know better…"

Tsunade's eye twitched as she turned towards Jiraiya, "Jiraiya…the answer is no…I won't become the Fifth Hokage…"

With that…Tsunade left…Shizune closely behind.

Jiraiya sighed as he turned to Naruto, "Your Rasen- Jutsu needs more work…go practice it while I try to reason with Tsunade."

Naruto shrugged as he walked off.

_---A Week later---_

Naruto ran back into his hotel room, Kyuubi having picked up the scent of Snakes close by.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly when he saw Jiraiya kneeling on the floor with Shizune over him. "Yo pervert are you alright?"

Jiraiya's eye twitched slightly.

Shizune just looked at Naruto and sighed, "Tsunade drugged him…he won't be able to control his chakra well…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Try to grope her?"

Jiraiya's eye twitched again, "NO YOU IDIOT!"

Naruto sighed, "Jiraiya the Fox-…I mean…I'm sensing snakes again…"

Jiraiya nodded, remembering the last time 'Naruto' 'sensed' snakes…he told Jiraiya so the night after Tsunade and he fought. "It appears that Tsunade has made a deal with Orochimaru…we've got to stop her though…"

Naruto and Shizune nodded.

_---In a clearing---_

Jiraiya, Shizune, and Naruto arrived in a clearing…only a few meters from Tsunade. She was accompanied by Orochimaru and Kabuto. Tsunade looked about ready to tear the latter two apart.

Orochimaru smiled, "So…Jiraiya and the fox brat have arrived."

Tsunade lifted an eyebrow, 'Fox Brat?'

Naruto laughed it off, "Hey pedophile…Konahagakure is looking for a new Hokage…and I think you'd be perfect for the job!"

Orochimaru lifted an eyebrow…but his face twisted into a sneer when he remembered his last conversation with Naruto, 'Brat is getting a little mouthy…better take that out of him…' Orochimaru thought as he ran towards the group of three.

Naruto smirked as he hid behind Jiraiya.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow as he continued to run, "What's the matter brat? Losing your nerve-" Orochimaru quickly jumped backwards as the ground exploded in front of him, narrowly avoiding becoming plant food for three hungry demonic plants. Orochimaru sneered, 'I can't believe I almost let that brat lore me into a trap…'

Jiraiya smirked at Orochimaru as he bit his thumb and started doing hand seals.

In a second the area under the Naruto and himself exploded, putting the two on top of a giant Frog…

Tsunade, who had Shizune right next to her, bit her thumb as well. "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**"

In a moment Tsunade and Shizune were both on top of a giant white Slug.

Orochimaru sneered at the two sannin, "You should've taken my offer Tsunade…you could've been with Dan and your brother again…" Kabuto bit his thumb and started doing handseals as well.

In a moment the two of them were on top of a giant Snake.

Gamabunta grinned as he pulled out his Tanto, "**I've been wanting a snake wallet…**"

Manda sneered, "**Useless adversaries…I'm going to require a lot of sacrifices for this Orochimaru…**"

Jiraiya, unlike his two former teammates, was seriously panting due to the fact that he used a lot more chakra on his summoning than usual. "This pant is the end pant of your Orochimaru…pant I won't hold back against you anymore pant this time we aren't fighting as teammates pant…"

Orochimaru grinned, "I wouldn't expect anything less…" He turned towards Tsunade, and spat out his long tongue, wrapping the appendage around her neck, "You are suppose to be invincible in a battle Tsunade-hime…but what would happen if I rip off your head?" Orochimaru asked in slightly slurred words.

Tsunade was about to pull the Snake-sannin off of Manda when suddenly thorned vines wrapped themselves around the tongue.

Orochimaru hissed as he followed the vines to their owner, Naruto…He quickly retracted his tongue, Naruto being forced to let go or risk being pulled off Gamabunta…

Gamabunta quickly jumped after Manda, Katsuya about ready to join the Frog.

Naruto noticed out of the corner of his eye that Kabuto had left the safety of Manda's head. He followed suit.

Naruto landed on the ground, just a few meters away from Kabuto. The blonde smirked, "Where are you going Kabuto?"

The traitor smirked at the blonde, "I thought I'd try to sneak behind one of you and take you out…but I guess you ruined my fun…"

The blonde started doing his regular handseals, "Guess I did…**Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan!**" Naruto yelled as three roots grew around him and shot out towards Kabuto.

Kabuto easily avoid the roots and appeared right in front of the blonde, attacking him with a kunai.

Naruto narrowly avoided having a throat cut, "Your allegiance wasn't the only thing you were lying about…your aren't genin level at all…"

Kabuto smirked, "I thought Kakashi would have mentioned that…"

Naruto shrugged, "Nope…must have not thought it to be important enough…" Naruto said as he started doing more hand seals…

Kabuto appeared right in front of him and smashed his fist into Naruto's stomach, "He should've…I'm at least HIS level…"

Naruto groaned as he quickly pulled out a kunai and attacked Kabuto with it… Kabuto easily grabbed Naruto's hand before the kunai connected. The blonde quickly jumped into the air and implanted both of his feet into Kabuto's stomach, forcing the older ninja to let go of his hand.

Kabuto didn't make a sound as he pulled out a few senbon needles and launched them at the leaf nin.

Naruto jumped to the side, missing getting hit by most of the senbon, but still taking some hits.

Kabuto smirked at the blonde but quickly jumped backwards in time to avoid three senbon needles. He turned to see that Shizune had apparently joined the fight.

Kabuto smirked as he rushed Shizune, but was promptly intercepted by Tsunade.

Kabuto, out of the corner of his eye, noticed that Katsuya was no longer in the fight of the giants.

Tsunade glared at the silver haired ninja, "Shizune…go help Naruto…"

Shizune nodded as she followed her orders.

Kabuto grinned, "You know you have an interesting file at Konaha…" Kabuto stated as he cut his own hand with a kunai and quickly whipped the blood at the older ninja.

Tsunade winced as she felt the blood hit her body. It made her freeze. Sudden thoughts of her late brother and lover flashed through her mind. Kabuto laughed as he walked towards Tsunade and smacked her with the back of his fist, "Such a disgrace to have such a simple weakness…"

Kabuto, with his bloody fist, was about to hit the older woman again when he felt something latch onto it. He looked at it to huge purple leaves attached themselves to his hands. He flinched as he felt sudden pain, 'They are drinking my blood…'

Kabuto pulled out a kunai, with his free hand, and quickly sliced off the leaves at their stems. He turned towards the source to see many moves leaves coming straight at him. His eyes widened as he quickly dodged them, narrowly avoiding becoming lunch for the plants.

He turned to their source, expecting to see Naruto near by…however he saw that the source of the plants wasn't anywhere near Naruto…he couldn't see the blonde at all.

Kabuto quickly jumped to the side in time to narrowly avoid becoming food for the plants once again. He started doing handseals, ending with the tiger seals…but was promptly stopped when he felt of huge pain against his back…

He winced as he turned in time to see Naruto, and then an explosion of wind as he was launched forward…straight into the bloodsucking plants…

Naruto smirked as he saw Kabuto engulfed by the plants, 'May not be perfect…but Jiraiya's technique still packs a punch…Hmm and after what he did to the old lady, that **Kyuuketsu Shokubustu** was a nice touch…'

Naruto smirked…

"Ku Ku Ku…very nice touch Naruto…"

Naruto turned just in time…to see Orochimaru plunge a sword into his stomach….Naruto winced as he coughed up blood.

Orochimaru grinned, "You should've taken my offer boy…you wouldn't be in this situation if you would have…" Orochimaru said as he began to pull out his Kusangi out of Naruto's stomach.

All Naruto could do was grin, though he really wanted to pass out, "Like I told cough you last time cough I won't join your ridiculous cause of vengeance cough cough. I have my cough own dreams and ambitions cough to follow and I won't be your tool…I will fulfill my dreams or die trying…"

Orochimaru smirked as he raised his sword, "Nice speech…I guess you'll die now…"

Naruto could only fall to the floor…having exhausted most of his chakra, as well as the small store that Kyuubi had given him…

K "HANG ON YOU IDIOT I'LL PUMP YOU FULL OF CHAKRA!" 

Orochimaru brought his sword downwards…plunging it into flesh…but not Naruto's…

Naruto looked up to see Tsunade right in front of him…

Orochimaru's eyes widened as Tsunade muttered, "**Infūin: Kai (Shadow Seal: Release)**… **Sōzō Saisei (Creation Rebirth).**"

Tsunade pulled the sword out of her body as she glared at Orochimaru, her wounds healing almost instantly.

Orochimaru just stared at Tsunade, "Why? Why would you save this boy…"

Tsunade merely responded, "Because…it's my job…as the Fifth Hokage of Konaha…"

After her heard those words…Naruto passed out…

_---Hotel Room--- _

Naruto opened his eyes…to see Jiraiya staring at him with a smile…

"Great job kid…"

Naruto looked at him curiously… "Huh?"

Jiraiya laughed, "Thanks to you…Tsunade has decided to become the fifth Hokage…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Yea…all because of some crap about dreams or something like that…"

Naruto sighed, "And Orochimaru?"

"He and Kabuto escaped…"

Naruto's eyes widened, "Kabuto!"

Jiraiya nodded, "He some how escaped your plants…"

Naruto sighed

_---On the Road--- _

Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, and Naruto were all walking down the road…

Tsunade, who was behind Naruto, smiled at him…something about him…reminded her so much of her little brother, Nawaki…

Thought it saddened her that she wouldn't spend more time with him…something within her filled with joy knowing that she would help him fulfill his first dream, leaving the village…

Though she wasn't completely sad in losing one of her only remaining family members…there was still one more… 'Hmmm…I can't wait to meet his sister…'

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**A/N: I've got nothing to say about this chapter...**

**REVIEW!**


	13. Four Days to Freedom and the Choice!

**A/N: This chapter is a lot of Talking...and a lot of interpretation on my part...so i hope you like it...  
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**By the way...i forgot to mention...the reason i posted two chapters at the same time was because i actually finished this one before chapter 12...the Tsunade thing caused me some issues...  
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**Also...Because of a certain reviewer...i decided to add a scene i hadn't intended on adding untill after the time skip...So i would like to dedicate said scene to Kasai Jigoku.**

**I hope you enjoy it...  
**

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**Chapter 13: Four Days to Freedom and the Choice!**

**_---Day 1--- _**

_---Konaha--- _

Rin sighed as he waited by the door of the council room, 'Guard duty is the reason that Kakashi left ANBU in the first place…maybe I should've followed suit…'

Naruto, Shizune, Tsunade, and Jiraiya walk into the council's meeting room. Their they meet with the council…or in Rin's opinion, the old people who have nothing better to do than find ways to have Naruto executed.

They stood in front of the council, who grinned at the sight of Tsunade…

Not all of them were bad, thought the medic nin.

She knew that Inuzuka Tsume, Yamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku, and Akimichi Choza favored the boy…they were close friends to the fourth Hokage and would never disrespect his son in such a pathetic way.

Aburame Shibi was difficult to read…but she figured that he didn't hate the boy, based on the fact that he never talked badly about him.

Hyuuga Hiashi probably had the rarest opinion, among the older generation, that one could ever find in Konaha concerning Naruto. He didn't give a damn. He didn't think of the boy as a hero, based on the fact that Naruto didn't choose his predicament. He didn't think of the boy as the demon, based on the fact that Hiashi trusted the Fourth Hokage's expertise when it came down to sealing… He just didn't care…whether the boy just dropped dead or was acknowledged like a hero…What did piss him off were the constant discussions on said boy…times when they should be discussing things about the village, not a boy.

Koharu and Homura, both teammates of the third hokage, held disdain for the boy, and weren't afraid to show it…

There were eight other elders, all of whom Rin never bothered to learn anything about, who all shared the same feelings of Koharu and Homura.

And the last member of this happy go lucky troupe was…none other than Kazama Ryuu Yukina, ONLY child of the Fourth Hokage and ONLY Grandchild of the Lord of Fire country, earning her a place in the council…though she probably won't officially join the council until after she retired as a ninja.

Koharu, smiling, walked up to Tsunade and bowed. "Tsunade-hime-"

"When is the promotion ceremony for Chunins…"

Koharu gritted her teeth and glared at the 'demon'… "Keep quiet boy…" she spat.

Tsunade resisted the urge to pound this woman into the ground, "It was actually MY question…I thought I would promote the newly appointed chunins right away…to…strengthen Konaha's ranks as quickly as possibly…"

Koharu turned to the woman, "Very good idea Tsunade-hime…"

Kyuubi scoffed inwardly, '**Kiss ass…**'

"…We planned it out to take place in three days…tomorrow you will be your coronation…I know we're rushing things…but like you said for the best of Konaha…" Koharu stated.

"And you can have that second day to yourself…to do whatever you would like…" finished Homura.

Tsunade nodded.

Koharu sighed, "I'm so glad you came…after Jiraiya declined out original offer to become the next Hokage we were devastated…but when he offered you as a replacement we were thrilled…" She paused to glare at the Kitsune, "…I just wish that you…had better company…"

Tsunade was about ready to blow…

Naruto laughed to himself, resisting the urge to flick him off, "I could say the same for myself right now…" he laughed as he turned around and walked to the door…

The elders, the ones who hated the boy, glared daggers at him…

Jiraiya tried to cool down the situation as he laughed, "The brat was actually quite useful…" he said as he got in Naruto's way and started patting his head "…big surprise their…"

Naruto growled on the inside as Jiraiya patted his head, "The big surprise here is that you would turn down the great opportunity to become the village's hokage…"

Jiraiya just stared at the boy before replying, 'What are you getting at…' "Well…I think my expertise would be better served on the outside…"

"You mean you want to continue to publish those perverted books of yours," muttered Naruto, though he said it loud enough for everyone to hear.

Jiraiya's eye twitched as some of the council members started snickering…

"But you don't even realize the opportunity you missed out on…" Naruto began with an evil smile and look in his eyes, both of which easily caught Jiraiya's attention… Naruto shrugged, "…I just thought if some idiot…" Naruto paused to look at both Homura and Koharu, but quickly looked back at Jiraiya, "Ever gave YOU the opportunity to become the next Hokage…I figured you'd use your new power in some perverted way…" Seeing the confusion etched on Jiraiya's face, Naruto decided to elaborate, "I was just thinking you would make some kind of Law, stating a PERMANENT and MANDATORY female dress code…you know…something along the lines of TIGHT…LEATHER…LINGERIE…I mean can you imagine all the kunoichi in Konaha walking around in nothing but that…"

When Naruto finished Jiraiya's eyes widened as a perverted look was placed on his face, drool leaking from his mouth…All the men in the council room, excluding Hiashi and Shibi, had the same perverted look…Hiashi and Shibi were trying hard to hide their blush…

Rin's, Shizune's, and Yukina's faces were covered in a large blush…

Tsume and, surprisingly, Tsunade were starting to snicker at the depression that Jiraiya would soon be in…

Koharu was however not amused in the least…

Jiraiya finally snapped out of his reverie, "On second thought…"

Koharu cut him off, "NO…she's Hokage", pointing to Tsunade, "You two", pointing to Jiraiya and Naruto, "Get out!" pointing to the door.

Latter walked out quickly laughing his head off…

The Former was trying hard to keep his eyes from welling up, 'Why…why…WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!'

_---Konaha Road--- _

Naruto was walking towards Ichiraku, wanting to visit the old man, and get some ramen, after not being in Konaha for a while.

He continued walking when he heard something that made his blood boil.

"**Hayashi Shuushuku!**"

Naruto felt something tug on the back of his jacket collar, as he was lifted into the air. "There has to be an easier way for the two of us to talk…and will you stop doing that?"

"This way is easier…and no…" Yamato replied as he slung Naruto over his shoulder and walked off.

_---Training Field--- _

Yamato and Naruto sat together on the grass.

"So…What do you want?" muttered Naruto, annoyed at being denied going to Ichiraku once again…

Yamato sighed as he placed his chin in his hands. "You'll have to excuse me Naruto…But you are the only one in Konaha who can learn these jutsu…so you'll have to excuse me if I want to pass along some techniques to you…"

Naruto shrugged, "Don't get me wrong…I'm grateful, your one of the only people who even gives me the time of day…" Naruto muttered that last part to himself. In a sickingly sweet voice Naruto spoke again, "Look on the bright side…you still have my dear sister to teach…"

Yamato shrugged, "Already tried…she can't do Mokuton", Yamato replied. Naruto looked at him oddly, so Yamato continued, "After…a…short discovery, the council ordered me to teach Yukina how to perform **Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan**. It ended in failure. She can't perform Mokuton…I'm not sure why though. Perhaps it has something to do with Kyuubi's presence in your body…but that's not important." Yamato tossed the Kitsune two scrolls.

Naruto looked at them. The first said, "**Moku Bunshin no Jutsu (Wood Clone Technique)**". The second said, "**Mokuton: Moku Jōheki (Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall)**".

Yamato spoke, "**Moku Bunshin no Jutsu**, is very similar to a Kinjutsu, **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**. But they are each unique in their own ways. **Kage Bunshin **splits the user's chakra between the user and the clones evenly, creating solid clones. These clones however are easily destroyed. **Moku Bunshin**, is a little more complicated, but has never been considered a Kinjutsu, since not many people can actually do it, so it's considered a Hijutsu instead. First off the **Moku** **Bunshin**, is formed from your body directly. Roots made out of chakra start to emerge from your body, moving towards your side…and the roots twist themselves into the Bunshin. It sounds like a complicated and long process but it actually will take a beginner about five seconds to complete the clone. I can create one in about half a second, still a little long in the ninja world, but the results are usually worth it." Yamato waited a few seconds to let this information sink in.

"So…how is it worth it?"

Yamato continued, "Ok…first off to start this technique off you'll need to ante up chakra to create the clone, about the same amount as **Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan**. Afterwards you'll need to transfer, during the creation of the clone, all the chakra that you wish the clone to have. You do this because your clone can use the same techniques that you do, so you give them chakra to perform jutsu. Now…unlike **Kage Bunshins** who can only take one hit before they poof out of existence…**Moku Bunshins** can take a few hits, on the other hand they can also use the chakra you have given them to regenerate themselves. This proves to be a very useful technique…but keep in mind the huge chakra usage this requires. Also keep in mind that if your clone catches on fire, don't bother trying to regenerate it…just cut your losses."

Naruto nodded.

"Now the other technique, **Mokuton: Moku Jōheki**, will create a half dome of wood to protect the user against enemy attacks, once again like all wood technique…fire seems to be a problem against it." Yamato finished.

Naruto nodded and got up, "Thank you for all your help Yamato…" He paused for a moment and had a foxy smile on his face, "I think I'll try out that **Moku Bunshin** right away…sounds like a fun jutsu…"

Yamato nodded, "It is…you can do a hell of a lot without getting off your own couch…hell it makes being a sensei easier…" Laughed Yamato.

Naruto stared at him curiously before growling, "You aren't the real Yamato…"

'Yamato' laughed, "Took you long enough to figure it out…"

Naruto sighed and left the training field.

**_---Day 2--- _**

_---Naruto's apartment--- _

Naruto was sitting on his roof. From a distance he could see that most of the village was gathered at Tsunade's coronation, at the Hokage tower. He mused with the idea of going to the tower, but thought it wiser to just watch the whole event from a top his apartment…though the view wasn't exactly perfect.

The day they returned to Konaha, Tsunade had easily revived Kakashi and Sasuke from their mental comas…Everything seemed to be happening so fast…it kind of made his head spin…though at the same time he was happy, 'Only two more days…'

_---Hokage's Office---_

Tsunade was looking some of the medical files…it was only a few hours after she had been coroneted, and she was already bored.

Shizune stood right next to her, "Tsunade-shishou, if you're bored...why don't you try meeting with Yukina-hime?"

"She's going to be busy for a while...but I've made sure that she has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do next week...so I'll speak with her then...we can have a nice long chat..."

Shizune nodded.

Tsunade continued to look through the files as one caught her eye… "Hmmm…this kid's case is pretty serious…if he doesn't get help soon…he'll have to quit his ninja career…"

Shizune looked questioningly at her sensei, "Who is it?"

"Some kid named, Rock Lee…set up an appointment with him…I'd like to speak to him…"

Shizune nodded as she left Tsunade's office.

_---Somewhere in Konaha--- _

After stopping at his house, to drop off his traveling bag, Naruto was on the road traveling to the Ichiraku Ramen Stand.

He was so caught up in his regular routine of pissing off the glaring villagers, that it left him unaware of the person spying on him.

The blonde heiress quietly watched her brother as he continued to walk by the angry villagers with a happy smile.

Truthfully the girl had mix feelings about her brother. On one side, after reading her father's letter, her grandparent's words, and the opinions of some of the council members, she felt pity and sorrow for her brother. On the other side, the years of loathing the creature inside of him, as well as the…less tactful members of the council, still had her detest the very sight of him.

_"If you still feel hatred towards your brother, try looking at him in an empathetic point of view…"_ were the last words of her grandfather before he was forced to depart.

Although both he and her grandmother promised to come back, wanting to speak with their newly found grandson; unfortunately being the Lord of Fire Country, meant that one couldn't sit around for a month at a time. So they departed, with the promise of returning.

Yukina snuck from one alleyway to another, careful to avoid the villagers who would most likely blow her cover, cheering for the 'only' child of the Fourth.

Yukina paused when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She turned to see a familiar silver-haired mask ninja. "You…are Kakashi-san, right?" She smiled at him, "You were a student of my father…"

Kakashi nodded lazily, "Yes…listen Yukina if you are following Naruto to try and kill him…then forget it…"

Yukina frowned, "But he-"

Kakashi cut her off, "-He did NOT kill my sensei…he was sacrificed by a man who I at one time considered a father…to a village that I have long lost respect for…" Kakashi sighed, "He's a boy who's gone through more trauma than any child should ever go…and I won't let you worsen it…"

"You're trying to protect him." Yukina muttered in a flat voice.

Kakashi snickered slightly, "Yes…but not from you…it's already been proven, that even with all your advance training, that Naruto can beat you, though mostly from the fact of your lack of experience and him taking you by surprise with his mokuton. No…the real threat are the ninja's that will go after Naruto if and when he beats you…I can't protect him from everyone…It's apparent that not even your father's memory could do that", Kakashi finished, muttering the last part mostly to himself before walking out of the alley.

Yukina could only stare at Kakashi's retreating back, her pride hurt slightly.

She watched as Kakashi called Naruto over to him. The two conversed about something for a moment before walking off in a different direction than the one Naruto was originally going.

_---Training Field--- _

Kakashi and Naruto were both sitting in their team's normal meeting spot, the same spot where the team took their genin exam. Kakashi sat on a rock, whilst Naruto sat against the middle post.

"So…we're here…what did you want to talk about…" Naruto said nonchalantly.

Kakashi sighed, as he held his chin in both hands, "I wanted to…try to talk you out of leaving-" Kakashi started but was cut off…

"If you were in my position…would you stay?" Naruto ask, surprisingly calm.

Kakashi sighed again, "If I were in your position…I would probably have gone on a killing spree by now…", Kakashi chuckled.

Naruto chuckled at Kakashi's statement as well, "Don't think I haven't thought about it…"

"**Damn…you are both such demons…talking about killing people…**"

Naruto growled inwardly, 'Shut up you stupid bastard…'

Kakashi sighed, "Well…then…I'm still your sensei…and I have one final lesson for you…"

Naruto looked at him curiously, "What?"

"You have untapped potential Naruto and I don't just mean the fox, I mean YOU, without the help of the demon inside of you…since you're leaving I at least want to set you on the right path…" Kakashi stopped for a moment to make sure Naruto was paying attention…he was, so the jounin continued, "Do you remember Sasuke's abilities during the chunin exams?"

Naruto nodded, "Yea, besides the obvious boost in speed and strength…he was able to control fire."

Kakashi nodded, "He used chakra to do so…but not just ordinary chakra…he CHANGED the very NATURE of his chakra to one of fire. It's a special training one does…its complicated…" Kakashi sighed. "Every ninja has the innate potential to control an element. These elements are Fire as demonstrated by Sasuke, Water as demonstrated by Haku, Lightning as demonstrated by myself, Wind as demonstrated by Yukina, and Earth as demonstrated by Yamato…"

At this Naruto raised an eyebrow, ignoring the mention of Yukina's name, "Yamato is Earth? I would've thought Earth and Wood would have been classified differently…"

Kakashi nodded, "They are…but at the same time they are not…let me continue. All ninja have this…if trained properly; one grows an affinity to that element; which, like advanced chakra control training, helps one control jutsu of these elements a lot better. Most Jounin, usually have about three affinities; it helps them vary in ability. Now…like I said earlier Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth are the elements…these are the only PURE elements…" Seeing Naruto's confusion, Kakashi continued, "These are the elements that occur naturally and independently. All others are formed by a combination of elements…For example…Ice is formed by freezing water. So if someone were to cool down water, with say cold air…Ice would be created."

Naruto looked at Kakashi with a confused expression, "So…Haku uses wind to cool down water?"

"Sort of…See for a Ice Jutsu to be used…one must not only be able to use both wind and water jutsu…they must have the potential to have an affinity with those elements; but that's not all…if that were the case their would be hundreds of ice using ninjas…to create an ice jutsu one must literally combine the two natures together to create the new element…but one can't just learn to combine two elements…"

"…They must be born with the ability…a blood limit…" Naruto finished for Kakashi. Kakashi nodded, so Naruto asked, "So…Earth is one of the elements needed to make Wood?"

Kakashi nodded, "If you think about it…it makes perfect sense. Plants require four ingredients to grow. The first is sunlight…they give nutrients to the plants, but it can be replaced by chakra. The second and third are the two necessary elements, Earth and Water. The last is the seed itself; this is created using the 'Nature Manipulation' to change your chakra into something that can literally create life. This is the true Nature of Mokuton. This is the ability you inherited from the First Hokage…"

Naruto eyes widened slightly, "The First Hokage…"

Kakashi chuckled, "Yes…you seem to have a long list of famous ancestors." Seeing Naruto glare at him, made the jounin continue. "Your…father…was a grandchild of the First…It's surprising that this fact has been unknown for so long… but it was actually Jiraiya who found this out, though I'm sure your father probably knew…But we're getting off topic…Mokuton, Wood Release; Hyoton, Ice Release; are both combinations that require a blood limit to use. The only known combination that doesn't require a blood limit is made by combining Earth and Wind…Sand as demonstrated by your good friend Gaara…" Kakashi chuckled.

Naruto's eye twitched, "What the hell makes you think the two of us are friends?"

Kakashi chuckled again, his visible eye forming an upside down crescent moon, "You two are to much alike to not be considered friends. Anyway…Just about every Sand nin in Sungakure can use Sand jutsu to some extent, but it seems Gaara will be the only true master of this art; but I'm getting off topic again. Listen…the whole point of this lesson is to make you aware of your abilities and potential. You already discovered how to add the Wood element to your chakra…and you know how to use the other type of chakra manipulation…Form Manipulation. Now you must combine the two together."

Naruto sighed, "I'm having a hard time following you Kakashi, I can already combine the two."

Kakashi shook his head. "No…you haven't…what you've done is created a seed using Nature Manipulation. Afterwards you use ORDINARY chakra to make it grow in size changing the form of the seedling into one of a plant, and in many cases you change the direction the plant grows, this is Form Manipulation. You use the two chakra's separately…and until you use them together, EFFECTIVELY, you will never reach your full potential." Kakashi finished with a sigh and then continued, "I made a mistake teaching Sasuke Nature Manipulation during the chunin exam…he was able to grasp the basic concept of the art…he even started to combine the two to create his first original jutsu, **Ryuusei Sumasshu. ** It is something that few ninja have ever done in such a short amount of time, but he has yet to grasp the concept fully…he hasn't even scratched the surface…which is why this jutsu seems to backfire on him every time he uses it in a fight."

Naruto nodded, remembering Sasuke's fights vs Gaara and Neji. "So…how do I grasp this art?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Combining these two forms of manipulation is something that every ninja needs to discover on their own…I can only point you in the right direction." Kakashi said as he pulled out two scrolls. "Learning to use Water and Earth based jutsu is the first step. These scrolls are full of Genin level Earth and Water jutsu…"

Naruto's eyebrow rose, "Genin?"

Kakashi chuckled, "Yep…if you want me to get you higher ones…you'll have to come visit…"

Naruto's eye twitched as he got up to take the scrolls from Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed, "You know…half of me can't help but think that I'm damning Konaha to hell by doing this…the other half thinks that I'm ensuring the future of Konaha by continuing your training…" Kakashi finished with a small chuckle.

Naruto laughed, "Sensei I'm insulted…you actually think I would attack the village that nurtured me in my short life."

Kakashi, seemingly unaffected by the conversation the two were having, continued to smile, "Like I said…if I were you…I would've gone 'Orochimaru' a long time ago…"

Naruto shrugged but continued to smile, "Well you are not me…and I am not you…Vengeance doesn't suit me…after I leave, I won't even give these morons a single thought, such an action is to far beneath me…" Naruto said as he turned.

"Beneath you? How many of these 'morons' have you attacked with that 'bracelet' of yours?"

Naruto shrugged, "I would say high forties…low fifties", muttered the blonde.

"Huh?"

Naruto grinned, "That's different though…they attacked me first…after I leave…I won't have to deal with these idiots anymore…"

Kakashi sighed, "I'm glad to hear that…because if it comes down to it, even if I did say I would do the same in your position; I will fight you, If I need to…"

Naruto laughed, "I hope the next time we fight…I'll be good enough to give you a run for your money…but the next time we fight it won't be as enemies…Like I said, I have no intention of destroying this hell hole, let everyone who lives here rot for all I care…" Naruto paused to look at Kakashi and grinned sheepishly, "Present company excluded of course…" With that Naruto turned and left.

Kakashi sighed, 'If you were still alive…how would you deal with him…sensei?'

"You know..." Kakashi turned to the new voice, Rin, "If Sensei were still alive...would things be different?"

Kakashi sighed... "I honestly don't know Rin..."

**_---Day 3---_**

_---Team 21's training field--- _

Naruto was just lounging around, opting to try and keep out of anything major for the rest of the day. He was currently just practicing his Rasengan. Unfortunately certain forces had other plans…

Naruto looked to his right to see Shizune come out of the forest…

"Hello Naruto." she greeted with a smile…

Naruto nodded, "Shizune-chan…", Naruto responded.

Shizune came over and sat down next to Naruto, who was still lying down, noting the spiraling ball in his hand

"Is there anything you wanted?", asked Naruto, "Shouldn't you be helping Tsunade get accustomed to her job?"

Shizune nodded, "She's fine…she's actually performing surgery today…she wanted to get further acquainted with the Konaha staff…so she asked me to run an errand for her."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Surgery already? She doesn't waste anytime…"

Shizune laughed, "It's a nice change…she usually just lounges around and drinks Saki, or wastes all our funds on gambling."

Naruto laughed, "So? What did she want?"

Shizune reached into her pocket and pulled out a book, she offered it to Naruto, who took it, "She just wanted me to give you that…"

Naruto looked at the book, "Genetics?"

Shizune nodded, "Yes. The science is still relatively new…but Tsunade figured you could use it in your Mokuton. She remembered Jiraiya-san saying that you could manipulate your Mokuton by using some 'red chakra'", Shizune feigned ignorance.

Naruto nodded.

"So Tsunade figured that you alter the plants DNA…and that's what changes the plants into those…monstrous things…"

**"Hmmm…old lady is actually pretty smart…that makes perfect sense. Sense you barely have any control, or concept of the art, you're just pumping the plant with my chakra. If you attain the knowledge to control this…you could come up with a variety of different Jutsu…"**

Naruto nodded, "Thanks Shizune-chan…" Naruto smiled at the young woman.

Shizune waved it off, "It was actually Tsunade-shishou that came up with the idea…so you should thank her."

Naruto nodded, "I will…but thanks anyways…"

Shizune smiled as she got up "By the way...that's a really powerful technique you got their...the Fourth was a master at creating jutsu...that's for sure..."

Naruto's eyes widened as lost control of the ball, causing it to explode right next to him, sending him flying.

Shizune gasped as she ran to Naruto, "Are you alright?"

Naruto ignored her question, "Who did you say created that technique?"

Shizune looked at him blankly, "The Fourth Hokage...it's a jutsu called the Rasengan..."

Naruto's face twisted into one of pure anger, "ERO-SENNIN!" He screamed as he burst out of the clearing, leaving a confused Shizune behind.

**_---Day 4--- _**

_---Ichiraku Ramen Stand--- _

Naruto sat down in his normal stool, for once reaching his destination without getting interrupted. Naruto had felt a little better about the incident yesterday... "It only took the combination of Rasengan and **Konohagakure Hiden: Taijutsu no Ōgi: Sennen Goroshi (Hidden Leaf Secret: Taijutsu Supreme Technique: Thousand Years of Death) **on Jiraiya to calm the boy down. What was even better was the fact that the man had landed in the woman's hot springs, giving the woman a living punching bag. Strangely he hasn't seen the pervert recently.

Naruto sighed and was about to order when…

"One bowl of Beef Ramen for Naruto…and one for me as well…"

Naruto genuinely smiled, "You know me all to well Iruka-sensei."

Iruka smiled at the boy as the two started talking.

Ten minutes, and 34 bowls of Ramen later. Naruto and Iruka exited Ichiraku. "Naruto…come with me to the academy…I have something I've been meaning to give you."

Naruto looked at Iruka curiously before nodding and following the man to the ninja academy.

_---Academy---_

Iruka quickly went to his desk and fished something out of a drawer.

Naruto waited patiently for whatever it was that Iruka wanted to give him.

Iruka walked up to Naruto, holding his hands behind his back, "The Hokage told me about his deal with you during the chunin exams…and to be honest with you…I was hoping that you would fail…" Iruka said laughing sheepishly.

Naruto felt a pang of anger welling up inside of him but decided to hold it down, knowing Iruka meant no harm.

"Anyway…I know there is no way for me to convince you to stay…so I'm not going to bother…instead I'm going to ask you to please come visit…" Iruka finished. Naruto sighed and nodded, not really promising anything. "I also wanted to give you this…" Iruka pulled from his back a Hitai-ate. Not just any Hitai-ate. This one didn't have the sign of the leaf on it…this one had a tree etched on it instead and lastly the cloth was a blood red color. "Unfortunately red was the only color I could find at the time…well actually their was another…but I didn't think pink would suit you. The leaf suits you well…but I think this tree would suit you better, like your own personal symbol as a wanderer…just like the symbol on Jiraiya's Hitai-ate stands for 'Oil'…you've probably heard the stories…"

Naruto nodded as he took the Hitai-ate…

As he gazed adoringly at the forehead protector, Naruto couldn't help but feel a stinging sensation in his eyes…Naruto reach up to feel…water…

'Am I crying?' asked the confused fox…he hadn't cried in years…

Naruto clenched his eyes shut and threw himself at the older ninja. "IRUKA-SENSEI…"

This act caught Iruka by surprise, "HEY! Careful…hehe…"

This act caught Iruka by surprise for the fact that he didn't think Naruto still had kindness left in him. Iruka assumed that the villag ehad already robbed him of that, along with his innocence.

Iruka and Naruto just stood their for a while…

**"God, I knew you were gay…if you guys are going to do stuff, I'm leaving." **

Naruto blushed as he detached himself from the man he considered an older brother. 'Shut the hell up!'

Iruka sighed, "You better get going…ototo"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly at the name…but he just nodded and left…

_---Hokage Tower--- _

Naruto walked into the Hokage's office. In there were Tsunade, Koharu, Homura, Kakashi, Asuma, and Shikamaru.

He walked up to stand right beside Shikamaru. Kakashi and Asuma stood behind him. "So you made it to Shikamaru…"

Shikamaru sighed, "Yes…and now we got to go through this troublesome ordeal…"

Naruto sweatdropped at the comment and turned back to Tsunade. Tsunade came up to stand in front of the two genin. "Turn to you senseis…"

Naruto and Shikamaru turned to Kakashi and Asuma respectively. They were each holding a chunin vest, which the two boys took.

After taking them the two turned around, after receiving a gesture from their senseis.

Tsunade cleared her throat, "As the Hokage of Konaha…I hereby promote both of you two chunin…congratulations…your both dismissed…"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow as he saw Tsunade walk back to her desk, to sit with Koharu and Homura. He also noticed Kakashi and Asuma were leaving. "That's it?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Yea…what do you want…a freaking medal?"

Naruto stared at her curiously, "I've been waiting for this for quite a while…and your telling me that THAT IS IT!"

Tsunade shrugged, "Pretty much…"

Naruto felt like slapping somebody as he turned and left, Shikamaru close behind him…

_---Naruto's House---_

Naruto was about to exit his apartment when he felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around him. He turned back to see Tsunade behind him, "I just wanted to wish you luck Naruto..."

The blonded nodded, "Same goes to you...old lady..."

Tsunade's eye twitched slightly, "Which reminds me, come back to visit...if you don't next time I see you I'll beat the hell out of you..."

Naruto laughed as he realized that she wasn't kidding...He merely nodded as he pulled himself from her grip and left...

_---Uchiha Household--- _

Sasuke could only stare at the four figures as they left his clan house… 'More power…can this man really give it to me?'

_---Hayate clan house---_

Naruto stood in front of the Hayate clan house, all though the whole of the Hayate were still months away from arriving to Konaha. The soul reason he was here was to keep a promise he made to Rei. He came here directly after leaving his vest at his home, he packed it with the rest of his stuff that he was taking.

Naruto entered easily enough, the guards being ordered to let him through, and not knowing about his connection to Kyuubi.

Naruto walked in and found himself in a training field. There he saw his Silver-haired friend, meditating.

Naruto walked up to her, "Hey…"

Rei opened her eyes to look at Naruto and smile, "Hi…", she stood up. "Glad you showed up…"

Naruto nodded, "Just wanted to say-"

Rei stopped him though, "Don't say goodbye…it's a tradition of sorts in my clan…when a friend or family member leaves, we spar instead of saying goodbye…" She said as she unsheathed her Wakizashi.

Naruto nodded as he grabbed a bamboo flower he had hidden in his jacket. It took only a moment for it to change into a long 'wood like' sword.

Naruto and Rei faced off for what seemed like hours to them.

Rei had a calm aura, which was completely emotionless.

Naruto's aura was anything but calm, however Naruto had learned to mask it a long time ago with a simple smile.

Rei was the first to make a move. She jumped from her position at the blonde ninja.

Naruto brought his sword up to block Rei's attack, the bamboo sword could cut anything…however it was hard enough to resist being cut by most attacks.

Naruto pushed off from Rei, sending her backwards, and went to stab her with the only sharp part of his sword, the point.

Rei, easily regaining her balance, quickly smacked Naruto's stab harmlessly to her right and countered with a stab of her own.

Naruto quickly jumped backwards, to avoid being impaled by the girl. Afterwards he jumped forward, aiming a horizontal strike with his 'long sword'.

Rei easily parried his attack.

Naruto quickly tried a vertical slash this time.

This time however Rei grabbed the sheath of her sword with her left hand to block Naruto attack and quickly pointed the point of her sword against Naruto's neck.

Naruto sighed, "You win again…"

Rei laughed at the boy, "You better get used to this position…pretty soon I'll have the ability to do this to you with Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu."

Naruto smirked, "Yea…we'll see about that…"

Rei sighed as she walked away from the boy.

Naruto followed her…

"I can't believe after all this time you are leaving…it's rather sad…"

Naruto shrugged looking slightly down heartened. "I'm sorry…but I can't stay here anymore…"

Rei nodded. "At least come visit…"

Naruto nodded, "You're the first to ask…"

Rei looked at him in surprise, "No one else has asked you to come back?"

Naruto shrugged, "Well they have…but they've chosen methods involving blackmail and threats to bring me back…"

Rei giggled at the statement…

Naruto sighed, "I should be going now…" When he saw Rei nod…he turned on his heel and walked away.

He paused momentarily when he arms wrap around him. "I'll see you later…Naruto-nisan."

Naruto smiled, "I'll see you later…Rei-nechan…"

With that…Naruto left…a single tear running down both their eyes…

_---In the forest--- _

Naruto sighed, he had attempted to search for Sasuke and Sakura…but couldn't find either anywhere… 'I should've just said goodbye after he got out of the hospital.'

Naruto thought about just leaving for the tenth time that day…but it felt wrong to do so without saying goodbye…

**"Your going to soft…"**

"Shut up…" Naruto spoke out loud…

He continued walking, hoping to find Sasuke in one of the training fields, 'For someone obsessed with revenge and power…he doesn't seem to give a damn about training…' Naruto already attempted to look for him at his home…but that didn't work out. He tried Sakura's house…but in between the items being thrown at him…he received the answer that Sakura wasn't home. He mused with the idea of tracking down Ino, having seen her earlier, and giving her an item that smelled like Sasuke in hopes of tracking down the Uchiha…but opted against it knowing that she was celebrating with Shikamaru.

Naruto walked into the next training field, it was one with a lake on it…

His eye's widened when he saw someone in the lake. She wore a pink kimono. She had chocolate eyes and black hair. She was merely lying down in the lake. "Hello Haku…"

The girl cracked open an eye to see Naruto. "Hello Naruto-kun…what brings you here."

"I was hoping to find Sasuke and Sakura nearby…but I just remembered that I wanted to say goodbye to you too…I don't know if you knew this but-"

"Your leaving Konaha…Sakura told me…"

"Oh…"

Haku sighed as she lifted herself up; she was now sitting on the water. "Naruto have you thought about what I've said?"

Naruto looked at her questioningly.

"When I told you where true strength comes from…do you still hold the same opinion you did before? Do you still have no precious people, no one to protect?"

Naruto shrugged, "Everyone I hold dear can defend themselves…those that can't are well on their way…They don't need me here…"

Haku sighed, "You know I got a similar response from Sasuke…though I agree somewhat with your philosophy…I won't follow it…I think you protect the ones you love, whether they can defend themselves or not."

Naruto shrugged.

Haku sighed as she got up, "Naruto…if I were ever in trouble…would you come help me?"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly a the question as he watched the girl come closer to him, seeing the silver moon light reflect in her eyes…

A whirlwind of thoughts ran through Naruto's head as he actually struggled to find the girl an answer… "I-I…" Naruto stopped to take a few deep breaths… "Haku…you are a lot stronger than I am…according to Kakashi…Zabuza claims you to be stronger than both of them…if I tried to help you…I would probably just get in your way…" Naruto shrugged…

Haku sighed…

Naruto did the same as he took his eyes off of her and looked straight at the moon.

After several moments of absolute quiet…Naruto was about to turn and leave when he felt something against his cheek. He looked down just in time to see Haku pull her lips off of his cheek, turn and leave, "Goodbye Naruto-kun…do come back and visit…I would really love to hear about your journey."

Haku walked back to the lake, sat down on top of it and started meditating.

Naruto only placed his hand on his cheek as he stared at the fifteen-year-old girl.

After a moment he turns and leave…deciding to forget about Sasuke and Sakura…

_---Naruto's Apartment---_

Naruto, his bag on his back, ran. He ran towards the village exit. He took a short cut which would lead him past the his own training field. He passed the three stumps when he finally stopped. He felt something that he hoped never to sense again…wishful thinking.

He turned…and saw…Yukina.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as she came closer… "What the hell do you want?" Naruto spat with all the venom he could muster in his throat…

Yukina winced but kept moving closer, "I just wanted…to talk…"

Naruto scoffed, "I have nothing to say to you." Naruto turned and began to walk away…

Yukina clenched her eyes for a moment before yelling out, "Please ANIKI WAIT!"

Naruto stopped in his tracks, his anger was at it's peak, she actually dared to call him brother after trying to kill him a month ago…afterwards he started laughing, "First demon, the Naruto and now brother…Make up your damn mind…"

Naruto put on his trademark smirk as he walked up to her, "You want to talk…fine here's the story about the boy who was condemned by his father to become the vessel for a demon. This was done to protect a bunch of people who would later do everything in their power to make the boys life a living hell. If that's not enough…this child's mother threw him away for the soul purpose of saving her 'untainted' child." Yukina winced at the ice in Naruto's voice. "And to make things perfect…lets just say this other child comes back one day to accuse her brother of the things that he's been blamed for his ENTIRE LIFE!" The fact that Naruto hadn't stopped smiling during this entire conversation was starting to scare the girl. "One child, loved by all…another child hated for doing absolutely nothing but just being alive…"

Yukina remembered her grandfather's words, "Naruto…I'm so sorry…"

Naruto turned, "I don't need your damn pity…"

"Aniki…"

Naruto quickly turned looking at her with every last ounce of hatred he had, "DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN!"

Yukina winced… "Was your…life really that hard…"

Naruto's face once again became a twisted smile; "So much so that I wish the ANBU had never found me…hanging there so many years ago in my apartment…barely alive…"

Yukina's eyes widened.

"Surprised…" Naruto shrugged, "That was the day I died…the son of Kazama Arashi and Ryuu Kizuna…that was the day you truly became an only child. Either way I refuse to acknowledge myself the child of the two people who damned me to this hell, just to save the life of their obvious favored child. But now…I will never have to deal with it anymore…"

Yukina looked at him questioningly…

Naruto pointed to his backpack, "Never heard huh…I'm leaving…and I won't be coming back ever…" Naruto said, lying about the last part.

Yukina's eyes widened, "What? You-"

"Can't? Me and old man Sarutobi made a deal…I get my chunin vest…and I can leave…no questions asked…" And with that the boy turned and walked away.

Yukina ran after him but stopped the second she felt pain in her stomach. As Naruto removed his knee from her stomach, she fell to the ground clutching it.

Naruto felt several spikes of chakra and then one huge spike that he would forever recognize…he decided to end his meeting with the girl. He dropped down to one knee so he was eye level with the girl, "Pay attention because I'm only going to say this once…I HATE YOU…Stay the hell away from me…the only reason I don't kill you now is for the memory of the Third Hokage…I know he would be disappointed if he knew I killed you…that's the only reason I'm holding back against you now…" With one last glare at the girl, Naruto left…

Silent tears fell down the girls face.

In a nearby tree, sat a certain perverted hermit, "Well…that's about the best we could hope for in a while…"

He turned to glare at the ANBU who had been following Yukina around, making sure they don't attack Naruto…

_---In a clearing a few minutes away---_

**"…the only reason I don't kill you now is for the memory of the Third Hokage…"** Kyuubi mocked in the boy's voice… **"Bah…the only reason you didn't kill her was because you felt all those ANBU around…"**

Naruto shrugged, "So I lied…what do you want…"

Kyuubi laughed in his head…

Naruto continued walking towards the exit, when he heard crying. Easily recognizing the owner of the crying so he opted to follow, since he was already going that direction.

He quickly finds the owner, "Sakura? What's wrong…"

The pink haired girl turns to see Naruto, "It's Sasuke-kun…he's gone…"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, "What?"

"He left to go to the sound village…he's going to receive training from Orochimaru…"

Naruto's eyes widened, "What?"

"He left…saying he could get more power at Otogakure…"

Naruto growled inwardly, 'Figures…I work the hard way to leave the village fairly…and Sasuke gets to just walk out…'

This time Kyuubi actually sweatdropped at the statement, **"Kid…I think your missing the point here…"**

Sakura cried into her hands, "What'll happen if the Hunter-nin find him…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at he prospect…He could almost see Sasuke in front of the council…

**_Sasuke stood in front of the entire council of Konaha, minus the Hokage. Koharu was the first to speak, "Uchiha Sasuke…you've been charged as a traitor of Konaha…what do you have to say for yourself?" _**

**_Sasuke shrugged, "I'm…Uchiha Sasuke…" _**

**_Koharu, along with the council gasped, "Oh My god…he IS Uchiha Sasuke!" _**

**_Homura went up to the boy to give him a closer look, "Yep…this IS Uchiha Sasuke…" _**

**_Koharu rested her hand on her chin, "We'll have to cover this little incident up…" _**

**_Homura suddenly snapped his fingers, "I got it…don't we usually blame some kid for a bunch of things he never does…what was his name again?" _**

_**Koharu suddenly snapped her fingers as well, "Uzumaki Naruto…so far we have him branded as the Kyuubi, the one who made Orochimaru defect, the cause of the Uchiha massacre, and finally the cause Great Shinobi wars…" **_

_**Homura laughed, "Alright…as of now…he's responsible for the defection of Uchiha Sasuke…"**_

**_Koharu nodded, "All right then it's settled!" _**

Naruto stared wide eye into the empty forest, 'Are you in my mind again…'

**"Damn…was hoping you wouldn't notice…"**

Naruto's eye twitched slightly…

Sakura sighed, "They'll execute him…that's the punishment for traitors…"

Naruto sighed… "Sakura…This village owes the Uchiha far to much to damn their last child-" Naruto paused as he connected Sasuke to his own situation… "I mean…Sasuke is the last owner of the powerful blood line…surely the village wouldn't be so moronic as to damn him-" Naruto once again paused…

**"He's screwed…" **

"DAMN IT!"

Sakura sighed…as she got up and wrapped her arms around Naruto, "Maybe it'll be alright…Shikamaru and a few others went after him…maybe they'll bring him back safely…"

Naruto sighed as he pulled himself out of Sakura's embrace, knowing that she didn't believe the words that she was speaking, "I have to go…goodbye Sakura…"

Sakura sighed as well, "Goodbye…Naruto…"

With that Naruto left…

_---Konaha Gate--- _

Naruto reached the gate of the village quickly. He pulled out his papers, showing them to the ANBU, who quickly let him through, a little to happy, Naruto noted.

After the gate was opened…Naruto ran through as fast as he could…

_---Clearing---_

Naruto stopped in a clearing, untying his Konaha Hitai-ate and putting on the one that Iruka gave him…

He sighed as he went over to a nearby tree…and leaned against it…

Naruto growled as he thought about Sasuke's situation... "Damn idiot...what could he be thinking...He's just going to become a tool for Orochimaru..."

Naruto looked in the direction of the Sound village... He growled inwardly, "What the hell am I thinking...I don't owe him anything...and I sure as hell don't owe this village anything..."

_ "I hate you...you know that right...I hate you...my father...my mother...my sister...my grandparents...and this whole DAMN village!...for all I care you can all BURN IN HELL!" (Naruto)_

"I'm free...I can leave and no one can stop me..."

At about this point Kyuubi retreated to the deepest part of Naruto's mind...he would leave the boy alone...

"...So what's stopping me..."

_"…do you still hold the same opinion you did before? Do you still have no precious people, no one to protect?" (Haku)_

Naruto's eyes widened, "Is Sasuke precious to me..."

_"In the ninja world…those who break the rules are scum…but those who abandon their teammates are worse and scum…"__ (Kakashi)_

"Would I be scum for leaving Sasuke behind...but wouldn't him leaving make him scrum as well..."

His mind flashed back to the picture of team 7.

"Are they precious to me..."

Naruto scowled when he thought back to the village he beat him on a daily basis, when he was younger, "What the hell do I owe this village...if I can leave...why shouldn't Sasuke have the same right?"

_"They'll execute him…that's the punishment for traitors…" (Sakura)_

Naruto sighed.

_"...you will receive the right to leave the village, when ever you want…This right can not be revoked, unless you do something like interfere with a mission or something…then the Hokage can revoke the right…" (Sarutobi)_

Naruto sighed... "If I got to help Sasuke...the council will force the Hokage to revoke my right to leave...Damn it...What the hell shoud I do..."

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry...but every bone in my body told me to end it their...i feell like such an ass...i can see the flames coming... snaps fingers...is instantly replaced with Kiba and Rock Lee...Both of whom scream in horror.**

**REVIEW**


	14. One choice effects thousands!

**Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto.**

** A/N: This chapter was rather easy...not sure about the next one though.**

**1) Ok...someone asked if i was going to force it to follow canon? ...this chapter should answer your question...**

**2) Somone asked me about a multiple ending thing? ...hmmm maybe...i'll have to see where the story goes...**

**3) Somone made the coment that Yondaime loves his daughter more, for adding the comment of Kage Bunshin in her letter and not Narutos?... Wasn't intentional...but that's how it turned out...i had meant to make it come out like, that is how Arashi can write the letters so quickly...but i guess it came out as a whole favoring thing...my bad...  
**

**I think that was all the questions...(at least the ones i could find)...if you have other questions (or if i didn't answer yours) please re post it...  
**

* * *

**Chapter 14: One choice effects thousands!**

Naruto slowly found himself edging towards the direction of Otogakure...he felt the urge to help Sasuke...to prevent him from going to Orochimaru who only saw the young man as a tool...and nothing more...

'Does Konaha see him differently though...' Naruto stopped in his tracks... 'Sure...Sakura and Kakashi care for him...maybe a few others...but does the council or the villagers see him as anything more than a weapon...'

Naruto stared off in the direction that he had originally planned on going in...

_"ITACHI!" Naruto heard a familiar voice._

Itachi simply turned around to see a boy he hadn't seen in years show up…Sasuke.

Sasuke glared at Itachi. Sasuke started charging his chakra as flames started to dance around him.

Itachi cocked an eyebrow once again, 'They are actually teaching these children something useful…much different than when I was a genin…'

Sasuke launched himself at Itachi. Itachi didn't even bother trying to avoid Sasuke's flames as he quickly grabbed Sasuke's outstretched hand, at the wrist. Just as quickly as he had grabbed the hand…Itachi snapped the wrist, making Sasuke scream in pain.

Sasuke's flames dissipated.

Itachi glared as Sasuke as he held on to him. "Foolish little brother…", muttered the older ninja. Itachi's eyes changed twice…at first into a fully matured Sharingan…and then into what looked like a three-pronged shurikan.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he stared into Itachi's eyes…suddenly the boy started howling in pain…this one much greater than the one he originally yelled.

Itachi dropped Sasuke in digust, "You still don't hate me enough…until you do…you will never be able to beat me…"

Naruto glared in the direction of Otogakure...

_"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't have many likes and I dislike many things. My hobby is training. I don't have a dream for the future…it's more like an ambition. I want to KILL a certain man and resurrect my clan." _

Naruto laughed to himself as he turned around, "Sasuke CHOSE to leave this village…Just like I'm choosing to leave it now…there's no point in going after him…"

At that moment leaves started to swirl around Naruto, "And besides…the two of us were never really friends…we just used each other for our own ambitions…no more…no less…" And with that…Naruto disappeared as the leaves dispersed…

If one were to have listened carefully the moment the leaves dispersed...one would've heard the sentence, "I'm sorry...Sakura..."

_---Valley of the King, A day later---_

Sasuke sat on top of the huge cliff, which partially made up the Valley of the Kings. He sighed…

It had been a long journey and he had been pursued every step of the way.

He took a moment to rest on top of the cliff…not because he was tired though…

After a few more moments…he got up and turned, heading towards Otogakure, 'Guess the Dobe isn't coming after all…' Sasuke sighed as he half expected Naruto come after him. Part of him wanted to fight the blonde once more…

'Oh well…'

_---A Day later---_

A red headed boy walked into the Valley of the Kings…

He looked around quickly for any sign of the lost Uchiha… "We're to late…if I go any farther…I'll be to close to the Sound village…"

Gaara sighed as he turned on his heel, still slightly wounded from his fight with Kimimaru.

_---Konaha, A day__ later---_

Tsunade sighed as Gaara and Shikamaru left her office. They had just reported to her that the mission to retrieve Sasuke was a failure. 'Orochimaru…would you really use some perverse technique to achieve your ambitions…' Tsunade sighed.

A moment later there was a knock at the door and Shizune walked in, "Tsunade-shishou…Maito Gai, Yuuhi Kurenai, and Sarutobi Asuma have all arrived as you requested. Hatake Kakashi is still absent I'm afraid."

One of the ANBU guarding her door snorted.

Tsunade, looking back to Shizune, merely waved it off, "Send in those three."

Shizune nodded and called in the three jounin.

Asuma, Gai, and Kurenai all walked in…quickly Kurenai asked, "How is everyone? Did they make it back ok…"…asking about the team made up of…Shikamaru, Neji, Chouji, Rock Lee, Kiba and Akamaru.

Tsunade nodded. "They are all alive…Neji and Chouji are both in a rough condition…but they'll live."

Gai went into his nice guy pose, "THEIR BURNING YOUTH KEPT THEM SAFE IN THEIR MISSION TO RETREIVE THE CONFUSED UCHIHA!"

Tsunade, as well as everyone except Gai, winced at his loud voice, "They failed their mission…"

Everyone, even Gai, seemed a little down heartened at this. Asuma was the one to brake the silence, "Why did you call us here Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade sighed, "Many of the genin teams have lost a member recently…for one reason or another…others, like Kurenai's and Gai's are still in tact, but I've decided to rearrange the teams…to fill in the gaps and try to even them out a bit more…I chose the four of you, including Hatake Kakashi, at random and decided to mix your teams up, as well as giving some of you the opportunity to train some new members…"

The three jounin nodded, "Where's Kakashi?" asked Asuma.

Tsunade shrugged, "I don't know…Anyway I've already decided the teams…" Tsunade said as she brought out a piece of paper.

Kurenai looked at her slightly skeptically, "Don't you want OUR opinions Tsunade? No offense but you are still new to your rank and you don't know our students as well as we do…"

Tsunade waved it off, "You guys already given many reports to Sarutobi-sensei while he was still alive. That was slightly before the Chunin exams, I doubt that with everything's that happened you would've had enough time to improve your students abilities that much…so I'll just go with these reports…"

"On team Kurenai will be… Hyuuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino, and…hmmm seems I can't read my own hand writing…but her first name is Tenten and was originally on Team Gai…They will be your new students." 'With Hinata's taijutsu…and Tenten's ranged attack…they'll be a force to be reckoned with, as was Tenten with Neji and Lee…adding Ino to the mix should give them a good advantage, assuming whether or not Ino can learn a few techniques to help her teammates out, I'll leave that to Kurenai though…'

Kurenai nodded, "A team made entirely of Kunoichi? Doesn't sound bad at all…"

Tsunade nodded, "On Team Asuma will be Akimichi Chouji, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Neji." 'Neji and Shino are easily chunin level…maybe they can help Chouji pick up his training a notch, so he never has to use those accursed pills again. Neji with his taijutsu, and Chouji and Shino with their variety of techniques…'

Asuma nodded.

"On Team Gai…" She paused when he once again went into his nice guy pose…flashing his teeth at her… "Will be…"

Gai, though he didn't show it, was nervous, 'Please let Lee be on my Youthful team…please…please…"

"Rock Lee…"

"YES!" Gai shot his arm into the air…"

Tsunade's eye twitched… "Gai…please get the hell off my desk…"

Gai grinned sheepishly as he jumped back down, and went to stand near Kurenai and Asuma.

Tsunade sighed, "…Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru, and Kazama Ryuu Yukina…"

Kurenai and Asuma's eyes widened when they heard the last name, "Your giving him the Kazama Heiress?" They said at the same time; to say that they were slightly jealous, would be an understatement…They expected Kakashi to get her.

Gai's eyes were at there widest as waterfalls of tears fell down them…

Tsunade shrugged, "Order from the council…" 'Supposedly, that man turned Rock Lee, a child without the ability to use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, into a force to be reckoned with in the Chunin Exams. The council is hoping that he can do the same with Yukina…'

Gai pumped his fist in the air, "I PROMISE THAT MY YOUTHFUL TEAM WILL BE TOP NOTCH BY THE TIME OF THE NEXT CHUNIN EXAM!"

Tsunade shrugged, "Yea…sure…and in case one of you sees Kakashi before I do…tell him that his new team will be composed of… Haruno Sakura, Hayate Rei, and …Damn it…can't read my hand writing again…something…Haku…it said in the file that he's had dealings with her before…" 'According to Sarutobi's file…Kakashi states that she is at least a Jounin level so she shouldn't be much work…Since I've taken Sakura on as my apprentice, she won't require much training either…Rei is the one who truly needs a lot of training, so Kakashi can focus on her…and hopefully Haku can help the other two girls out…they are probably the weakest out of these sets of genin.'

The three jounin nodded.

Tsunade sighed, "You are all dismiss-" She paused when someone barged into her office…it was Kakashi. Or Kakashi after, what looked like he got into a fight with twenty sound nin. His hair was disheveled, his visible eye was red and droopy, and he had the strong smell of Saki on him… "Kakashi?"

She was cut off as he stated flatly, "I won't be taking on another Genin team…"

With that…Kakashi left her office…leaving three wide eyed Jounin, one slightly irritated Hokage, and one worried ANBU…

Tsunade sighed, "Damn it…now I need to find another sensei…" she paused when she saw someone walk up to her. It was one of the ANBU that was guarding her door.

"Tsunade-sama…I will be happy to take on Kakashi's spot…if he is still unwilling to fill it…" stated the ANBU…

Tsunade merely nodded as she heard the door open again, two more ANBU walked in…the next shift…

The ANBU, who had been talking to Tsunade, walked off.

Tsunade called out, "Wait! I need your name…"

The ANBU turned her head as she walked out the door, "It's Rin…"

Tsunade shrugged as she crossed off Kakashi's name on her list and wrote down Rin. "Then Rin will take on those three…You are all dismissed…" Before she could even finish, the three Jounin were out the door… "I swear…kids these days have no manners," muttered the older woman.

_---Stone of Heroes---_

Kakashi sat down in the grass as he chug down another bottle of Saki…

Rin appeared behind him, noticing the multiple bottles of alchohal, "Kakashi…I think you've had enough…"

Kakashi shrugged, "I've only had two…"

Rin cocked an eyebrow, "Counting the one in your hand…I see twelve…"

"At the store I bought them in…they come in packs of six…"

Rin sweatdropped. "Kakashi…drinking isn't like you…"

"Neither is taking on a genin team…I should've known better…I don't know why I agreed with Sarutobi's ridiculous request…"

Rin sighed, "Kakashi…you did the best you could do…"

"The best? My best just lost us the survivor of the Uchiha clan…if I wasn't so incompetent…I would've convinced him that revenge wasn't the answer…and if that doesn't beat all… I couldn't save my sensei's son from the very people he was sworn to protect!"

Rin sighed as she sat down next to Kakashi, "…Those two…were gone…a long time ago…no one could save them…"

Kakashi sighed… "Obito would've…I don't know how…but Obito would have saved those two from their demons…like he save me…" he muttered as he went to take another drink of his Saki…

His hand stopped as another hand went and grabbed the bottle from him. Afterwards…Rin started drinking it herself…

The two were there for hours…saying no words…just looking at the names of Obito and Arashi engraved in the stone.

_---Somewhere in the forest---_

Rei continued walking through the forest. About half an hour ago she felt a familiar chakra signature that she didn't think she would feel in a long time. She continued to weave between the trees hoping to see her blonde friend once again.

She finally reached a clearing, where a figure sat. She sighed disappointingly as she got a good look at the figure she had been trailing, 'I guess I still need more training…'

The boy she found was a red head, a clear sign that this wasn't Naruto. The boy turned to her as she came into the clearing but quickly turned back uninterested.

Rei sighed and bowed politely, "Sorry…you…I thought you were someone else…"

The boy shrugged…obviously not caring.

Rei's eyes widened momentarily as she was sent into a giggling fit… The boy turned to her once again, "Actually…you and my friend are very much alike."

The boy cocked an eyebrow, "I find that very unlikely…"

Rei was still giggling, "If you met Naruto…you'd probably think the same…"

The boy raised his eyebrow higher, "Uzumaki Naruto?"

Rei looked at him curiously, "You know him?"

The boy shrugged, "We've met…"

Rei fought the urge to laugh again as she took a closer look at the boy before her. Black outlines around his eyes. A red kanji for love on his forehead, above his left eye. Spiky red hair, though not as spiky as Naruto's… "What is it about you…that reminds me so much of him?"

The boy looked away from her, "You'd be better off not knowing…"

Rei frowned, "Oh come on…tell me-"

She paused when she heard rustling in the trees. She turned to see two figures come out of the trees. One was a blonde girl; the second was a boy wearing make-up. Both had Sand Hitai-ates on…

The girl stepped forward, eyeing the silver haired girl, "You ready Gaara?"

The boy stepped forward, winking at his younger brother, "Or…do you want more time…"

Gaara ignored the other boy, "Let's go…"

Rei turned to Gaara, for the first time noticing that his Hitai-ate had the symbol of Sand and not Leaf. "It…was nice speaking with you Gaara-san."

Gaara paused and turned to her, his brother and sister standing behind him, "Your name…I never got it…"

Rei bowed politely, "Hayate Rei…"

Gaara nodded, "Sabaku no Gaara…Temari, Kankuro let's go." With that, Gaara jumped into the trees, the other two following close behind.

Rei stared off after him, "Very much like Naruto…"

_---Coral---_

Naruto's eyes widened slightly when he arrived at the outskirts of the village. The orange light in the center of the village seemed to cut through the darkness… "Wonder what that is…"

"It is the Flame of Justice…"

Naruto turned to an old man that was coming up behind him, he was with another woman about his age, a younger girl, and two young boys. "Flame of Justice?"

The older woman sighed happily… "It's the festival to celebrate the death of the evil demon…Kyuubi…"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, 'Wait a moment…my birthday isn't for another week…'

The man noticed the child's face,

"Yes…I'm aware of the fact that the demon fox died on October 10th…but we celebrate it on this day…October 3rd…because twelve years ago today…the fox destroyed our village and killed a lot of our people…

Naruto laughed nervously as he stuffed his hands in his orange jacket. "You don't say…"

The man nodded, "Yes…it was before the Fox came to Hidden Leaf, if you know your history, that is where the Fox is killed. Anyway…before he went to Hidden Leaf…he came to our village…"

** "OH YEA! I remember this place…I slept here for a few days before attacking Hidden Leaf…Nice weather…"**

"On this day…we celebrate it's death by taking anything we can find that has ANY connection to the Kyuubi and burning it in the center of the village…"

Naruto cocked his eyebrow…

The old man sighed, "Anyway…we better be going…you should consider staying…if you have something you can burn that has any connection to the Kyuubi…you should toss it in the fire…"

And with that…the family started heading towards the village…

Naruto stared off in the direction of the village for a moment…** "So…what happens if they find out that you're my container?"**

"Hmmmm…Moving on…" "**Moving on…"** The two kitsunes said that precisely the same time…as Naruto headed for the next village on his map.

_---Hokage tower, A week later---_

Sakura sighed as she entered the Hokages tower the next day. She couldn't get over the events of the following week… Sasuke left…Naruto left… she heard from Tsunade that Kakashi would no longer be her instructor…everyone she'd grown to care about was has slowly left her…

It felt as if she had a huge weight on her. She sighed as she continued inside, only to be stopped by a woman. This woman had light brown hair, piercing green eyes, and a red mark on each cheek, making her look very much like a member of the Inuzuka clan; though the lack of a dog went against that. "Haruno Sakura…Welcome to the new team 19."

Sakura stared at the woman behind her before looking behind her to see both Haku and Rei, remembering the latter from an encounter with her and Naruto at Ichiraku.

"Let us go…" said Rin as she started moving out of the Hokage tower. The three girls followed their new sensei quickly.

_---Ninja Academy Rooftop---_

Rin sat down in front of the three girls, "Ok…introductions…I want to hear you name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams of the future…"

Sakura sighed, remembering the last time she went through this with her two 'mental teammates'. She took a quick look at Rin, noting that she was dressed the same way most Jounin dress. "Sensei…would you mind going first?"

Rin shrugged, "My name is Hayabusa Rin. I like my teammates, I dislike people who are tardy…and read perverted books in public…" Sakura sweatdropped, the older woman obviously meaning Kakashi, "I have many hobbies and I don't feel like telling you about my dreams for the future."

Sakura sighed again, 'At least she gave us more than Kakashi'.

Rin pointed to Sakura, "You go first…"

Sakura sighed, "My name is Haruno Sakura. I…don't really know what I like or dislike anymore…I don't know my dreams of the future…but my newest hobby involves training to become a medic-nin."

Rin nodded, 'With the fifth as her teacher…she'll go really far…and I'm sure I can give her a few pointers along the way.' Rin looked at Rei. "Your next…"

Rei nodded, she was wearing a light blue kimono, "My name is Hayate Rei, I like training, my friends, and most importantly my family." She paused for a moment, "I dislike those that look down on others unfairly."

Rin raised an eyebrow, 'I think I'm going to like this girl…'

"My hobbies include swordsmanship, calligraphy, and poetry. My dreams for the future involve becoming the strongest swordsperson."

Rin nodded, 'She'll need the most help…she may be a decent swordswoman…but she needs to learn to be a NINJA…not a SAMARAI…' Rin looked at Haku, "Your turn…"

Haku nodded, she was wearing the same pink kimono she wore when she first met Naruto, "My name is Haku. I like-" she was cut off.

"You didn't mention your last name", noted Rin.

Haku sighed… ever since her father killed her mother and tried to kill her…she had refused her fathers last name…then it struck her, the most obvious thing she could think of and she went by for years without doing so, "Momochi…Momochi Haku…"

Rin resisted the urge to cock an eyebrow and only nodded. Sakura smiled at the girl warmly.

"I like the water, the moon, and I've taken a recent interest in ramen. I dislike anyone who judges others based on something they have no control over…" referring mostly to her own past, rather than Naruto's "My hobbies involve coming up with ways to counter the jutsus of others…I currently hold no dreams for the future…"

Rin nodded, 'According to Kakashi…she is suppose to be stronger than Zabuza, though that came from Zabuza's mouth himself…She shouldn't even require much training, if any at all.'

"Ok…Usually we would start this off with a little…survival exam…but that isn't required for this team…team 19 will receive it's first mission tomorrow. We'll start with a few D-rank missions…though we'll be training for most of the day…Sakura I've been told that Tsunade-sama will be handling most of your training?"

Sakura nodded.

"Well then, after we complete our mission, you will go directly to Tsunade-sama…"

Sakura nodded again.

Rin smiled, "Ok girls…I'll see you tomorrow…"

With that…Rin disappeared.

_---Otogakure---_

Sasuke sighed as he walked out of his new bedroom, wearing black robes with the symbol of sound on the back. He now had on a Sound hitai-ate.

He walked towards his new assigned training field. Orochimaru had given him his own area to train in. Sasuke was promised to have all the equipment he wanted and he would get a different jounin everyday to help him train. He questioned Orochimaru's way of spoiling him…but didn't mind it.

'Itachi…I will have my revenge…'

_---Junon---_

Naruto walked out of the changing room with a sigh of relief…no one in Konaha had ever let him shop…so he was stuck with that orange eyesore, though he made some modifications to it. He finally got some clothes that he liked, though mostly at the advice of Kyuubi…who was…surprisingly…metro…

** "BRAT! I resent that statement…"**

Naruto shrugged as he walked over to the mirror. He was wearing faded black pants, and a slightly tattered blood red jacket, with black flame-like designs. The jacket was opened, revealing a black undershirt. He kept his ninja sandals on, not caring to use boots or shoes. His new Hitai-ate, the blood red one that Iruka had given him before he left, was now tied around his left arm, the band almost camouflaged into the jackets red sleeve. He now wore two **Moon Leaf** bracelets, one on each wrist.

"WOW! You look great!"

Naruto turned to see the shop owner, a middle-aged woman. He smiled at the older woman, "Thanks…I appreciate it…"

The woman looked at Naruto thoughtfully, "Hmmm…There's something missing…I got it…" She quickly ran to a shelf on the other side of the store and snatched something up. She ran back to Naruto and presented them to him… "Here…" She handed him blood red, fingerless gloves. Naruto slowly took them up from her hands and put them up…

"Hmmm…I don't know…"

"You're a ninja right? You should have some kind of gloves…the extra padding will offer you some protection and since they are fingerless they won't restrict your abilities to perform jutsu."

Naruto cocked his eyebrow a little bit, "You sure know a lot about ninja…"

She nodded, "I used to have a friend who was a Ninja of Hidden Mist…though that was back when I used to live in Water Counter…"

Naruto was taken by surprise as she led them to her cash register, "You don't say…"

She nodded, "Will this be all for you?"

Naruto nodded, "For now…I may come back before I leave…I'm trying different things…"

She nodded…again, "Always a good thing to try different things. When you walked in you mentioned that you wanted a whole make over...ever consider dyeing you hair?"

Naruto took a moment to consider that... 'Hmmm...maybe silver...'

The image of himself appeared in his mind, wearing a jounin outfit and a mask...

The blonde quickly shook it off, 'Nope...how about red...'

The image of himself, with long red hair and a pink outfit, came into his mind holding a rose whip.

The boy once again shook it off...

"Maybe I'll stick with my natural hair color..."

The woman shrugged and rang up what Naruto owed.

Naruto was surprised at the price…all the clothes didn't cost to much at all…though he had to continue to save, being on his own and all.

"Have a nice day…please come again…"

Naruto nodded as he left…

* * *

**A/N: Ok...i think i've acheived new levels in doing the EXACT OPPOSITE of what people were expecting me to do...Originally i WAS going to have Naruto save Sasuke and be screwed back in the village...but i got a new idea and went with it...**

**Anyway...sorry if i messed up in the time frame...i don't quite remember the time frames for these events...**

** BTW...sorry if you found this chapter boring...this was just a filler...gotta get it out of the way ya know...**

**BTW...Naruto's outfit isn't an original idea...i saw this picture (of the Yondaime) wearing this same outfit...their was someone next to him (I'm assuming either Kakashi, with Diff hair, or an Uchiha...)...anyway...i just thought i should mention that... **

** Anyway...if you like it...review...if you hate it...review...if you are part of ANY religion (including Atheism (spelling), Klingon, Jedi, or Sith)...please review...  
**


	15. One Bad Decision!

**Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N: I know and i'm sorry i took so long to get this chapter up. I could either choose to write this story...or study for finals...and no offense to you guys but the latter was a little bit more important.**

**Anyway...i'll talk more near the end...hope you enjoy the chapter.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 15: One Bad Decision!**_  
_

_---Border Between Wind Country and Rain Country---_

Five men were jumping from tree to tree in a dark forest. All five of them were dressed in a gray shirt and gray pants. They each had dark gray masks on and wore sound hitai-ates, labeling them as Shinobi from Otogakure. They all jumped onto the main road and started rushing down it.

The five men suddenly paused when they saw a lone young woman, standing in front of them. She wore a simple black kimono and seemed to have a large object on her back. All five of them glared, at the same time, the second they saw the sand hitai-ate keeping her blonde hair out of her eyes. She smirked at the five men, "About time you guy's showed up…"

One of the men chuckled, "Who let the kid out of school early?"

The one in front smirked, "Better get out of our way little girl before you get hurt-" He paused when he heard the sound of a blade flying through the air behind him, but after quickly calculating the trajectory, none of the sound nins moved. They all smirked when they heard the blade hit the ground behind them, seemingly harmlessly, hitting the shadow of one of the sound nins. They glanced back slightly to see a trench knife on the ground, a few feet away from them. The leader laughed, "What good is a throwing weapon if you can't aim worth a damn!", he called out, obviously knowing that the girl had at least one ally with her. They all stared at the girl as they slowly began to advance on her. But only four of them were moving.

"What the hell?" The four that had advance looked back towards their ally, "I-can't move!"

The leader sneered as he turned back to the girl, "I don't know what you pulled, But I'll pulverize you for that!" he yelled as he and the other three mobile sound nins rushed her.

She merely smirked, 'How did these losers get to the rank of Chunin', she thought as she pulled off the thing on her back and flicked it open, revealing a giant fan, with three purple dots on it. "**Kamaitachi no Jutsu!**", the girl yelled as she waved her fan straight at the group of Sound nin, releasing a gust of slicing wind.

All four nins clearly heard the rushing winds coming from the fan and quickly jumped out of the way and into the trees. However without his ability to move, the fifth sound nin had no way to avoid the razor sharp winds, "Aaaaaahhhhh!", he screamed as the winds started slicing through him.

The girl smirked as she sensed the ninjas start to surround her, still hidden in the trees, 'Hope those two idiots can pull it off without a babysitter."

_---Somewhere in the woods---_

Two of the sounds nins were standing on a branch of a large tree staring at the girl, "She's pretty good, though any idiot could take out Crim."

The one closest to the trunk of the tree turned towards his teammate, "How do you think they immobilized him?"

The other shrugged as he started searching the forest with his eyes, "I don't know, but we better start searching for her teammates. Let the boss handle the girl." He said as he noticed the other two sound nins jumping out of the forest. "Let's go-" He paused as he felt a large chakra signature appear next to him.

The chakra felt so large…so evil, that they could barely move. They gathered enough courage to turn to their right, straight towards the trunk of the tree, whose branch they were standing on. They saw a pair of red eyes that sent a chill down their spines. The one who was closer to the trunk was effected a lot more by the pulse of chakra, "What the hell-" he began but was cut off. The one farther away, sensing the danger, quickly jumped to the next tree branch. The one closer, didn't get the chance. Once he was safe, the nin who ran quickly turned back to check on his ally. He stared in horror as some type of purple demonic head, which looked like a fox, was coming out of the tree and had its maw enclosed around his teammate's neck. The man shivered slightly as he saw the demon stare at him with glowing red eyes, before literally retreating back into the tree, ripping it's prey's throat out at the same time; sending the man hurdling to the ground, drowning on his own blood as he struggled to breath. The man's eyes widened as he felt the demon's chakra completely disappear.

"I g-g-got to g-g-get the hell out o-f-f-f here", he stuttered as he jumped away, heading to the clearing where the girl, and hopefully his two teammates were. As he was about to land on the next tree branch he felt something connect with his head, which sent him flying backwards, and crashing onto the hard ground. "Ughh…" he groaned and after a moment he slowly picked himself up into a crouching position and looked up to see a boy standing on the branch. The boy had wild blonde hair and cold blue eyes, yet he was smiling as if it were his birthday. He wore a blood red jacket, with a dark blue shirt and pants. The sound nin glared at the boy's Hitai-ate, 'Who the hell uses a tree as the symbol for their village.'

He started doing hand seals, his hands almost completely covered by fingerless red gloves, "**Doton: Retsudotenshō no jutsu (Earth Release: Split Earth Turn Around Palm Technique)!**"

The man's eyes widened in recognition, as he jumped to his feet. Just as he did, the blonde quickly slammed his hand into the tree branch he was standing on. The man looked at the blonde oddly, 'you have to slam your hand onto the ground for most Doton jutsus to work…he can't do it through a tree-' he stopped his thoughts as the ground around him exploded; five large rocks uplifting themselves out of the ground around the sound nin before quickly flying straight at him. The sound nin, regaining his instincts, quickly dodged the first stone, jumped over the second; moved between the third and fourth, pulling out a kunai at the same time, and jumped over the fifth stone before chucking the kunai at the grinning blonde, "Take that you bastard!" The projectile sailed clearly towards the blonde, catching him on the chest. However, the moment the blade made contact, the boy transformed into a log. The man didn't have a chance to react as a foot collided with his head, knocking him into tree.

After a moment he managed to get back up and glared at the blonde, still dazed from the kick, "You bastard!" he yelled as he launched himself at the boy.

The boy never stopped grinning as the man came at him, "Figures I would get the weak ones…" he muttered before doing a quick hand seal and quickly spinning around the disoriented man, screaming, **Mokuton Hijutsu: Shokubutsu Henkan no jutsu (Wood Release Secret Technique: Plant Transformation** **Technique)**. As he moved around the man, a large purple thorn seemed to grow in his hand, as he pushed the point straight through the man's back and into his heart. The man yelled before collapsing on the boy's blade. The blonde pulled out his 'sword' before putting his hand into a hand seal, a moment later, the blade started to shrink before disappearing in the boy's hand, "Wonder if Temari and Shikamaru are having more fun."

_---Somewhere in the Forest---_

The leader growled as he saw the wind cut through his immobile ally, who went sprawling to the ground.

"Boss, Crim is down, and I don't see Kazada or Taichi."

The leader turned to his subordinate, "I can see that you idiot. This was obviously a trap", he muttered to the man, "Chances are this whole forest is booby trapped, best chances are to grab the girl and hold her hostage."

The other nin nodded as they both launched themselves out of the trees and into the clearing.

The blonde girl turned her head to the right in time to see both sound nin rushing her. She smirked when she saw the shadows of the trees lengthen, the sound nins, on the other hand, didn't notice a thing.

"**Kage Nui (Shadow Sewing)!**" they all heard someone mutter in the forest. The leader's eyes widened as he saw, what looked like tendrils start to materialize out of the very shadows, he could see that he and his teammate were completely covered with shadows. He saw three coming straight at him and quickly managed to jump out of the way and out of the shadows completely. The other sound nin wasn't as fortunate, as he felt a tendril pierce through his arm and another through his leg, sending a spray of crimson blood out of both wounds. He opened his mouth to howl in pain, but was stopped when another tendril pierced him in the chest, and right through the heart, ending his life.

The sound nin growled as he saw his comrade die. He launched himself at the blonde girl, grabbing a kunai out of one of his pockets. He quickly brought the blade down on the blonde's head, attempting to end the fight quickly. The girl merely brought her fan, snapping it close at the same time, in front of her, parrying the blade with the metal edges of her own weapon. The sound nin quickly attempted to kick the girl, but paused when she pushed him away from her, using her fan, sending him sprawling backwards a few meters.

The sound nin leader growled as he started doing hand seals, "**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**" he screamed as he breath out a giant fireball straight at Temari.

They girl smirked as she quickly waved her fan straight at the fireball, screaming, "**Kamaitachi no Jutsu**!" and at the same time sent a wave of wind straight at the flame. The two elemental blasts slammed into each other and quickly dispersed in an explosion of flames and wind. Neither the leader nor the girl was harmed. The girl smirked again, "You should really just give up…your out of your league."

The sound nin glared at the girl, "Your pathetic jutsu wasn't able to beat my fireball. What the hell makes you think you can beat me?"

"The fact that the two jutsu canceled each other out." Both ninja turned to the new voice, seeing a dark haired boy standing on a tree branch, wearing a standard chunin outfit which labeled him as a shinobi for Konahagakure. "Both your jutsu were C-rank, but just the fact that you were using a fire jutsu and Temari was using a wind jutsu, should have given you a clear advantage, the fact that you didn't, proves your weakness; in other words your struggle is a troublesome waste of time, you should just give up", he muttered in a apathetic voice, looking up at the clouds.

The man sneered, "Fool! You have no idea what I'm capable of", he yelled as he started doing the same set of hand seals, however in his rage he didn't notice Shikamaru throwing a trench knife directly behind him. He did notice the sound directly behind him, the sound of a knife hitting the ground, and the fact that he could no longer move his body. "What the hell?"

Temari smirked as she walked over to him and started patting down his jacket, "That lazy ass can stop your movement by throwing one of his chakra enhanced trench knives at your shadow. After a moment she unzipped it, and reach inside, pulling out a small scroll at the same time. "This should be sufficient."

The man opened his mouth to yell but quickly halted when he heard objects explode out of the ground and felt things start to encircle him. He couldn't move his head, but was able to look down just enough to see what looked liked roots completely wrapped up his body. He grimaced when they reached his head, and started wrapping that up as well, into a cocoon like shape, only leaving an opening large enough to see his face. The branches were about half a foot in diameter.. "W-w-w-w-hat the h-h-h-h-h-ell!"

"**Hayashi Kyū (Forest Coffin)…**" muttered another voice. The sound nin had just enough mobility in his eyes to see a grinning blonde sitting on a tree branch. "Can I kill him?"

The blonde girl waved him off, "Only if he say's they word 'no' to me."

**"I wonder if this is how she get's dates?"** the male blonde could hear a voice laugh in his head, the comment making him chuckl as well.

The girl turned to look at the sound nin, having been looking at the scroll the entire time, "Tell me, the information on this scroll seems rather…trivial. Why does Orochimaru want it?"

The sound nin sneered, "Like I'd ever tell you a damn thing-AAAHHHH!" The man screamed as most of his body exploded in blood, due to the four-inch thorns that just recently grew out of the roots.

The blonde girl nearly gagged at the sight, which surprised her greatly, having seen multiple scenes of such violence before hand, from her own brother. She did however turn to glare at the blonde responsible, "Idiot I was trying to talk to him!"

Naruto shrugged, "**Hayashi Sōsō (Forest Funeral)…**", he didn't seem phased all by Temari's intense glare. He shrugged again, "What? Technically he did say 'no'. Anyways our mission was to get that scroll and kill these five ninja, nothing was ever said about doing any kind of investigation."

Temari sighed, opting to ignore the idiot, 'I'm sure the ANBU can find out the importance of the scroll…' "Idiot", she muttered.

"Why do you have to do troublesome things Naruto…"

Said blonde sighed, 'How the hell did I get myself into this…'

_---Flashback (two weeks ago)---_

_A man, with spiky white hair, done in a ponytail, was standing on a sandy hill. Desert all around him, except right in front of him. He smirked as he saw the small forest in front of him. It looked so abnormal surrounded by the vast desert. 'That idiot…why doesn't he just start screaming, Hey AKATSUKI! I'M HERE, I'M HERE!' thought the man as he started walking towards the patch of green. 'None of those plants are natural in the desert, he must be sustaining them on his chakra alone…'_

_The man walked into the forest, which couldn't be greater in length than a large mansion and higher than a three-story building. He noted that the canopy was to thick too see the sky. He started walking through it, ducking underneath some vines and dodging between a few trees. As he continued walking, he noticed that the trees began to change. The trunks of the trees started to change from a dark brown to a sickly purple color. The sight of them slightly made him shudder. After a moment of walking he heard multiple things explode out of the ground. He turned around to see multiple plants come out of the ground. They were thin purple branches, which expanded near the tips. They parted near the center of the expanded portion, forming large maws with teeth made of wood. The plants made the man chuckled slightly, each one of the bulbs was about as wide as his arm, and about a meter tall, though the old man was sure that they were much longer underground, "I don't know what game your playing Naruto, but these plants are definitely not some of your best works", the man called out into the forest. He noted that they were eight in front of him as he began to pull out a kunai. He paused when he heard more explosions from the ground around him. He saw that five more appeared on his right, another six on his left, and another four behind him. He sighed as he saw all of them shoot towards him. He quickly grabbed a kunai out of his pouch and to the untrained eye, it seemed like he did an ordinary horizontal strike around him; slashing all but one of the plants to bits. He grabbed the remaining plant just as it was about to chomp down on his arm. The plant was about an inch from his face, trying to chomp at him. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow when he noticed that the plant stopped snapping at him and started making a bizarre sucking sound. His eyes widened when he noted that a miniscule amount of his chakra was leaving him._

**"_Mokuton Hijutsu: Chakra Hiru Oni Ki no jutsu (Chakra Leech Demon Plant Tree Technique)!"_**

_The older man turned to the sound of the voice. He saw a young blonde teenager standing on top of a tree branch. He was wearing long blue plants, matching ninja sandals, and a white shirt. He had a red Hitai-ate, with a tree symbol, on his left arm. Lastly he had on two wristbands made out of leaves and blood red finger-less gloves. Too a normal person, if they didn't see the Hitai-ate, they would never guess that he would be a ninja. Though they may mistake the grin he bore for that of a madman._

_Jiraiya sighed, "What the hell is this Naruto, it'll take at least a few hours for this thing to suck a GENIN dry of chakra!"_

_The boy continued smirking, "That's because it isn't latched on to you. And besides…the simple fact is that these trees aren't meant to fight alone, they are easily produced…here let me show you." He started doing handseals, "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Chakra Hiru Oni Ki no jutsu!**"_

_Jiraiya blinked as at least a hundred similar plants exploded out of the ground._

_Naruto started chuckling as he jumped away, leaving the man to his fate…_

_Jiraiya sighed, "…hmmmm wonder if he's still pissed off about the Rasengan and pink tree incident…" The older man muttered while doing a few hand seals for a simple fire jutsu._

_Naruto, though far away, still heard the pervert's words…_

_---End Flashback---_

Naruto grimaced slightly, leaning against the tree, who's branch he was sitting on. 'That was embarrassing.'

_---Flashback (2 and a half years earlier)---_

_Naruto at the side of the road, leaning up against a sign. The area around him was purely a grassland, and he opted to use this time to learn something, and take a break from traveling._

_He was currently reading the book that Shizune had given him, growling every time a cloud covered his sunlight. He felt gratitude towards Shizune, though after thinking about it he should most likely be thanking Tsunade, who thought ahead enough to write side notes, which helped him understand most of what he was reading._

_It had been a week since he had left the village of Junon, and he had been reading the book almost none stop, pausing only a few times to read some of Kakashi's scrolls. He felt that he needed more mastery over the two combination elements of mokuton, before he tried learning something as complicated as the **Moku Bunshin**, and as a result the other scroll Yamato had given him also took a back seat as well…_

_After a moment, Naruto lifted himself off of the ground. "Ok, I think I can do this."_

**_"What? You've only been reading that damn book for three days and you think your ready for this?"_**

'_Hey! I've been using Mokuton for a while now…and this book uses plants as examples for most of it's explanations…I think I understand this. I can normally grow an ordinary tree. I think I may be able to grow a tree that bears fruit.'_

_**"Idiot"**, muttered the fox. "**Make it an apple tree…"**_

_Naruto ignored him, and started doing his hand seals for **Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan.**_

'_Ok, all I need to do is alter the plant's DNA to make it into a fruit tree…'_

_** "Apple tree…" **muttered the fox._

_Naruto's eye twitched as he finish his hand seals, opting to close his eyes to help him concentrate, 'Ok…'. In front of Naruto a sapling started to grow out of the ground. 'Now I'll pump it with a bit of Kyuubi's chakra…' A small amount of red chakra surged from Naruto and straight to the plant. The sapling continued to grow, and it didn't turn demonic as Naruto noticed. 'It feels…different…I think it's working…' Naruto waited for a few moments before he noticed that the tree finished growing. "Did I do it?" he asked as he opened his eyes, his jaw dropped, 'Its…Its…Its…'_

_**"…Pink…"** muttered the fox as he saw Naruto's creation._

_It was an ordinary tree, with the exception that the trunk and branches of the tree were a dark pink. The leaves were pink as well, though they were the same color as Sakura's hair._

**_"…Well, at least you've got something to give your Iruka-chan…"_**

_Naruto's eye twitched again, "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that…"_

_**"I said…Well, at least-" **the fox started, but stopped when they both felt someone land behind Naruto…_

_Naruto quickly turned, aiming one of his bracelets straight towards the interloper…he didn't have to do a thing…it was Jiraiya, "What the hell do you want?"_

_Jiraiya ignored Naruto, and looked straight at the plant, "Is this what you do in your free time? Make a bunch of fruity looking trees?"_

_Naruto's eye twitched…again, "What the hell do you want you pervert…"_

_Jiraiya stared at Naruto, "Are you still sore about that whole Rasengan incident?"_

_Naruto growled, "You lying-"_

"_Get over it." Jiraiya stated flatly…_

_Naruto growled louder._

"_Listen, believe it or not, I didn't have a choice, I was bound by a promise to your father to teach you and your sister that technique", Jiraiya held up his hand when he saw Naruto about to protest, "And even if he didn't, Naruto that technique is powerful and a great way to practice form manipulation…Besides it will probably save your life one day…"_

_Naruto growled, "I'll survive on my own abilities…not ones created by that bastard…"_

_Jiraiya sighed, "Fine whatever…if you think your better off without it…I won't try to preach it to you anymore…" 'He wanted me to teach it…never said a damn thing about making him master it…' "Listen Naruto, I don't know why you lied to all your friends, telling them you were going off alone like that, and I don't know what your doing out here…we'll be heading in the complete opposite direction…"_

_Naruto stared at him confusion, though his blood began to boil, "What!"_

_Jiraiya merely smirked at Naruto, "Brat…don't you remember…Akatsuki is looking for you…and as far as anyone knows…you and me ARE traveling TOGETHER! And the people who you've told that you were traveling alone have been NOTIFIED of YOUR 'Change Of Heart'…" Jiraiya was winking all throughout this statement. Naruto almost smirked at the older ninja, if he wasn't still pissed at him._

"_Oh, I almost forgot…"_

_Jiraiya leaned in close to Naruto, "When your walking, cover you face, or at the very least your whisker marks…when you make camp, stay in the forest, Don't use your last name…" Jiraiya whispered in Naruto's ear but paused for a moment, to stare at Naruto's arm "And keep that Hitai-ate on, don't wear your Leaf one…"_

_Naruto nodded._

"_I'll check up on you in a few weeks…"_

_Naruto quickly turned to Jiraiya to complain, but the second he did Jiraiya disappeared. 'Jackass…' the boy thought to himself as he turned back to the pink tree. 'Hmmm…maybe increasing my library of Mokuton Jutsu FIRST, would be better than trying to alter the ones I already have…'_

_**"Makes sense…"**_

_---End Flashback---_

"Hey IDIOT! Hurry your ass up!" screamed an annoyed Temari.

Naruto sighed, 'If I knew what I was getting myself into…I probably would've chosen to become a missing nin…'

_---Flashback (two weeks ago)---_

_Naruto continued walking away from where he left Jiraiya to deal with his chakra eating plants, thinking about the incident which happened over two years ago_, "_Maybe I should go back and double the number of plants I'm attacking him with", mused the blue-eyed boy._

"_Don't bother!"_

_Naruto quickly turned around to see Jiraiya standing right behind him, "Your still alive?"_

_Jiraiya's eye started to twitched, "Who the hell do you think you are brat? Some kind of Super Ninja? I am the great Toad Hermit! You think a few little plants-" Jiraiya paused when he noticed Naruto turn and walk away, "BRAT!", the older man yelled as he started chasing the young blonde, "At least wait when I'm yelling at you!", he yelled grabbing the boy by the shoulder, the second he did though, he noticed something very odd about him. Jiraiya smirked, "I guess you weren't just lounging around all this time…I didn't even notice that this form was a clone. **Moku Bunshin**?"_

'_Naruto' nodded, "Yep…but that's not even the best part."_

_Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "The best part?"_

'_Naruto' nodded as he turned his head to look at the pervert, grinning the whole time, "The effects of combining **Moku Bunshin** with Kyuubi's chakra."_

_Jiraiy still looked confused, "And what are the effects-" He paused when he felt two chakra signatures on both sides of him. He glanced on either side of him to see two animals, one on each side of him, literally coming OUT of a tree. Jiraiya quickly corrected himself, demons would be a better word than animals, though he wasn't sure if he would use that word either. They looked like one of Naruto's demonic plants, their bodies composed entirely of pale purple leaves, from head to tail. Inside of their maws, Jiraiya could see sets of teeth that he could only assume were made out of very sharp thorns. Lastly came the eyes, they had none. Where the eyeball should be, was merely a semi transparent red-flame which Jiraiya immediately recognized, as the chakra of a certain nine-tailed biju, which is, hated so much in his home village. Overall, the 'demons' were in the shape of foxes, appearing very much like the Kyuubi, without the monumental size and nine tails; they only had one. Jiraiya sighed as he saw the beasts snarl at him, and 'Naruto' turn around and pull out a kunai._

"_Is this really necessary Naruto?"_

_The clone shrugged, "Not really…", he muttered before launching himself at the older man, the two 'foxes' following._

_---In the center of the Oasis---_

_Naruto sighed contently as he continued lying by the water. In truth, the 'forest' was Naruto training his Mokuton skills by expanding the Oasis into a full forest. _

_After a moment Naruto opened his eyes, noting that his clone was destroyed, and it's memories coming back to Naruto in almost an instant. He laughed at the thought of the older man fighting his **Oni Moku Bunshins (Demon Wood Clones).** They were made mostly of Kyuubi's chakra; the blonde having received an increase in the amount of demonic chakra the fox had allowed him to keep, merely tripling it, which equals about one-half of Naruto's natural chakra reservoirs. He remembered the fox telling him that even Naruto's large chakra capacity didn't even equal half of one of Kyuubi's tail. Naruto sighed, as one of his demonic clones was just defeated. The demonic clones, not having the fingers to use jutsu, were really only good for surprise attacks. They could dissolve themselves into large trees, becoming almost undetectable to everything but a Byakkugan, which made them very useful for surprising enemies in a forest. And of course, they had their massive regeneration. He sighed; the last one was just destroyed._

'_Hmmm, I can either continue screwing around with Ero-Sennin, or continue lying here…' Naruto thought about it for a while until finally his lazy side won, figuring that this wasn't a life-threatening situation. He closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep…ignoring the older man appearing right next to him._

"_BRAT!"_

_Naruto sighed as he opened his right eye to look at the man, noting that he didn't seem to have a scratch on him. "What?" _

_Jiraiya seethed, about ready to strangle the kid, "I came here to give you a message, not to be your gardener!"_

_Naruto laughed to himself, "Damn, Tsunade has you delivering her mail now? So much for the great Toad Hermit…", the boy continued laughing._

_Jiraiya's eye twitched, 'Damn…you…Arashi…' "The Sound Village is acting up much more than usual, so Tsunade is recalling all traveling ninja to help with the war effort."_

"_Nope…" 'I'm out already, no way in hell is the old bat going to drag me back to Konaha.'  
_

_Jiraiya sighed, "The Council will force Tsunade's hand, and hunter-nin will be sent after you."_

"_Don't care..."_

_Jiraiya sighed at the ice in the boy's voice, "Yea…Tsunade more or less guessed that this was how you were going to react, so she thought of a way that you didn't have to go back to Konaha and you could still avoid being put on Konaha's most wanted list for a bunch of bull shit reason's that those old bastards will make up."_

_Naruto cracked open an eye, obviously intrigued. He seemed to think it over for a moment, "Go on…"_

"_As a kind of peace treaty, we've been exchanging ninjas with Sunagakure. If you agree to join Sunagakure for a while, you'll get those old farts off your back. At the same time you'll make yourself some money."_

_Naruto was now looking at Jiraiya suspiciously, "There's a catch…"_

_Jiraiya shook his head, "No catch…"_

"_You mean I can just join Sunagakure for the war and those old bastards will leave me alone…that's it?"_

_Jiraiya nodded._

_Naruto looked at the old man skeptically, "Why do I feel like I'm being screwed over?"_

_---End Flashback---_

The catch was their however, in the form of being put under the command of Sabaku no Temari; though in the end, it was heaven compared to going back to Konaha.

Naruto had originally come to Wind Country to train his Mokuton. Believing that the harsh desert would be the greatest spot to train, which indeed helped him out dramatically. As long as he stayed away from any major villages, and avoided Suna ninja, he would be all right. And just in case one of them gave him trouble, he always had his paper work as a wandering ninja, which saved him from having trouble with multiple shinobi.

Naruto, after he arrived at Suna, he met up with Gaara again. The two spent about twenty minutes just staring at each other, Naruto's happy smile looking straight at Gaara's apathetic look. Soon he was reintroduced to Temari and Shikamaru, the latter who would be staying in Suna for a few months as part of the pact between the two villages.

Naruto laughed to himself when he remembered Shikamaru's reason's for coming here. He was unofficially being punished for calling Ino and Tsunade the most Troublesome Blondes In Konaha. To say that they were annoyed would have been an understatement.

_"The Fifth gave me the option of spending a few months in Suna...or a few months as her assistant."_

Needless to say, spending a few months doing missions in Suna seemed somewhat less troublesome.

"Come on you two lazy Asses! We're heading back to Suna!" screamed Temari as she started jumping from tree to tree.

Naruto and Shikamaru both sighed, as they less than enthusiastically followed the girl.

Only **somewhat** less troublesome.

_---Sungakure, Kazekage's office, Two Days later---_

The three ninja stood in front of the red headed, insomniac Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara.­

­­­­­

"And that's what happened." Temari finished explaining to her youngest brother, Gaara; Kankuro sitting in the corner, listening to the report as well.

Gaara nodded, "Very well…I'll have the ANBU analyze the scroll", he said gesturing to one of the ANBU standing guard at his door. Said ninja walked towards Gaara's desk, picking up the scroll at the same time, and walked out of the office. He then turned back to Temari, "I have another task for you, as you know Konahagakure is holding the next chunin exams. I need you to go down there and assist them with the third part of the exam."

Temari nodded.

Gaara turned towards Naruto and Shikamaru, "You two go as well."

Shikamaru nodded, "Sure…"

Naruto, however shook his head, "No thanks…"

Gaara cocked his eyebrow up.

"To be perfectly honest, the only reason I'm here is because I refused to go back to Konaha, and I'm not really interested in going back for whatever period of time", Naruto said flatly.

Kankuro and Temari grimaced at this declaration. Their brother was nowhere near as bloodthirsty as he was two and a half years ago. But noone had ever denied a request made by Gaara, and they didn't think it would be a good idea for someone to start.

"Very well…" Gaara said with an equally flat voice, which visibly shocked both his siblings. "Instead I'll put you on guard duty…" 'In the end, Temari should be able to handle the mission on her own anyway.'

Naruto nodded, though he hated the idea of guard duty, he decided to live with it.

Temari and Kankuro were still visibly stunned on how incredibly lenient Gaara was being. 'Well…we did have a discussion earlier on how we have too many ninjas out doing missions as it is, so having Naruto stay back wouldn't hurt', thought Kankuro.

Gaara turned back to Temari and Shikamaru, "Your both dismissed." The two nodded as they left Gaara's office, he turned back to Naruto, "Kankuro will give you your location." Naruto nodded as Kankuro gestured him out of Gaara's office, knowing that it would be a long few weeks.

_---Konahagakure, Three Weeks later---_

Tsunade sighed as she sat down in the chair, of her office. She had just sent away Temari and Shikamaru, who had been helping them with the chunin exams recently, back to Sunagakure.

She sighed contently at the results of the chunin exams. Her favorite student, and said student's teammate both made it to the finals and ended up in a draw. They had been the only two ninja from Konaha, out of ten other ninjas, to make it to the finals. To say that she was proud of them would have been an understatement. 'I knew that putting Sakura and Rei with Haku would be a positive influence on their training.' Haku had taken the chunin exams; a few months after the three girls became a team, and easily outclassed every genin in the exams. Six months later the Jounin exams were being held and Rin had insisted on Haku participating. Tsunade remembered Kakashi's report on Zabuza saying that Haku was much stronger than himself, and that day she proved it. She was able to pass the jounin exams that year. Sakura and Rei, who took the exam with a new genin named Amy, would become chunins this year.

Asuma's group became more deadly as well. Neji quickly improved his skills and was able to achieve the rank of jounin quickly. Shino and Chouji had become more deadly with their family's techniques as well, the former learning a few things about strategy from his new sensei. They both achieved the rank of chunin early on.

Kurenai's team improved greatly as well. Being around Ino and Tenten for most of the day quickly boosted the confidence of Hinata, increasing her skill with her family's Taijutsu. Ino, armed herself with a good bit of Kurenai's extensive library of genjutsu. Tenten continued to increase her ability with ranged weapons and even learned to use close quarter's weapons, as suggested by Ino. All three of them were chunin.

Team Gai… at that point Tsunade started chuckling to herself. She still remembered watching their first encounter on her crystal ball.

_---Two and a half years earlier---_

_Gai stood in the middle of the open field, in his normal green eyesore. Off to the side sat Rock Lee, wearing the same thing, sans the jounin vest; Kiba, minus Akamaru, who was still injured; and Yukina, the only one that didn't have a scratch on her…_

"_OK! My youthful team of youthful individuals! We will begin our first meeting as a team by introducing ourselves…"_

_They hadn't been able to have a team meeting yet, since Kiba and Akamaru were in bad shape. After a while Kiba was declared healthy enough to continue his training, though Akamaru wouldn't be on his paws for another two weeks. Rock Lee wasn't in to bad of a condition, though that was due to the fact that Gaara had arrived to save him from Kimmimaru._

_Gai pointed his thumb at himself, "I AM MAITO GAI! MY HOBBIES INCLUDE TRAINING MYSELF AND TRAINING MY STUDENTS! SO WHEN YOU WAKE UP EVERY MORNING, BE PREPARED TO SWEAT!" Gai looked to see that Kiba and Yukina were hugging there own faces, inexplicably on top of their ears, 'Must be some new HIP thing all the kids are doing…' and he noted that Kiba had tears of 'joy' in his eyes. Lee, on the other hand, had stars in his eyes. Gai quickly pointed to Lee, "YOU! TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!"_

_At this point Kiba and Yukina noted that many civilians, who were just passing by, were staring at them annoyingly._

'_Can't this guy keep his voice down…' (Kiba)_

'_Why didn't he take us to a private training site…' (Yukina)_

_Lee quickly jumped to his feet, getting into his Nice Guy pose. "MY NAME IS ROCK LEE! MY HOBBIES INCLUDE TRAINING AS WELL, GAI-SENSEI!"_

_Gai went up to Lee, putting a hand on the boys back and pointing off into some invisible point in the sky with his other hand, said, "Yes Lee, together we will train our youthful bodies…" At this point Yukina and Kiba noted the rising sun behind the two Green Beast of Konaha, "…and we will become the best ninjas that Konaha possesses." And just as quickly as it appeared, the sun was gone…_

_Kiba's eyes widened slightly, "What the hell?", muttered the boy, looking for the rising sun, noting that it was noon._

"_YOU!" Gai yelled, pointing directly at Kiba._

_Kiba sighed, 'Why couldn't I have stayed with Kurenai-sensei?', "My name is Inuzuka Kiba, and my partner is Akamaru, though he isn't here at the moment, my hobbies include…Hmmmm I guess walking Akamaru-" He paused when he saw that Gai had gotten a blank look on his face, something which made the boy shudder slightly, "-I…mean…training till…I…drop…"_

_Gai quickly regained his composure as he pumped his arm into the air, "YES! AND WITH THIS KIND OF ATTITUDE I WILL SURELY MAKE YOU GREAT! TWO MORE GREEN BEAST HAVE JUST BEEN ADDED TO OUR RANKS!"_

_Yukina blinked, praying that the two green beasts he was referring to, were Kiba AND Akamaru…_

"_YOU! TELL ME YOUR NAME!" He pointed to the Kazama heiress._

_Yukina winced slightly at how loud his voice was, "My name is Kazama Ryuu Yukina, and my hobbies include…" She paused when she saw Gai and Lee staring at her intently; she quickly glanced at Kiba who was staring at her with tears in his eyes, "…training." _

_Tears started falling downs Gai and Lee's eyes like waterfalls, "AND A THIRD GREEN BEAST HAS BEEN ADDED TO OUR RANK! THIS ONE THE GREAT AND HONORABLE DAUGHTER OF THE GREAT AND HONORABLE FOURTH HOKAGE! SOON THE GREEN BEASTS-"_

_At that point Yukina started tuning him out, something that she would previously had been reprimanded for, however she couldn't stand listening to him anymore. She glanced at Kiba, he obviously was doing the same thing, and Lee was obviously listening to every word the older man said. 'I wonder if Tsunade-ne-chan is still upset with me…'_

_--End Flashback---_

Tsunade sighed as she stared back to her desk; it was littered with paper work. She quickly looked around to make sure no one was around and that her door was locked. She then reached under her mahogany desk and pulled out a bottle of sake.

_---Somewhere in Konaha---_

"Achoo!" Sneezed one princess of Fire Country. The girl was wearing a standard chunin outfit, with her weapon of choice sealed within a scroll, hidden in her vest. 'I wonder if somebody is talking about me?', she wondered as she was strolling through the village, she turned her head to the right slightly to see multiple villagers looking at her and whispering things about her. She turned her head to the left to see the exact same thing; all the of the villagers having faces of admiration for her. 'One would thing after spending over two years with them, they would stop whispering and looking at me like that.' She paused when she saw a child run in front of her. She looked at him curiously.

He quickly held out a flower for her, smiling the whole time, "For you Yukina-Hime!" Her ears were then barraged cries of "Ohhhh's" and "Uhhhhh's". She smiled at the child, grabbing the flower from him.

She quickly put the flower to her nose and inhaled, smelling the sweet smell. She then bent over and gave him a kiss on the head, "Thank you very much." He smiled at her, slightly blushing before walking away. She smiled at him as he walked away.

_"…here's the story about the boy who was condemned by his father to become the vessel for a demon. This was done to protect bunch of people who would later do everything in their power to make the boys life a living hell…"_

Suddenly, Yukina's smile fell. Something about this moment, the people around her staring at her, the little boy who just gave her the flower, something about the whole moment just…made her stomach turn. Saddened and disheartened, she kept walking on her way. 'I wonder what he's been doing this whole time?' she wondered, sighing. 'Hmmm, perhaps after my team meeting, I'll go visit Tsunade-ne-chan', she thought, addressing Tsunade the way she had told the younger girl to address her by. She felt a chill creep up her spine, remembering the time they first met.

_---Flashback, two and a half years ago---_

_Yukina walked into Tsunade's office, wearing a simple pink Kimono. Tsunade had opted to wear her regular robes…_

_The two blondes smiled at each other and Yukina bowed politely, "It's good to finally and formally meet you Tsunade-sama."_

_Tsunade chuckled, "Just call me Tsunade-ne-chan", said the older woman, as she gestured for the younger one to sit, "We are technically related."_

_Yukina smiled and nodded, as she sat down, "Yes Tsunade-ne-chan."_

_Tsunade continued smiling warmly at the young girl, "I've been wanting to meet you ever since Jiraiya informed me of your existence." Tsunade sighed, "I honestly thought that I lost my last relative a long time ago…though Shizune is technically my neice in-law, though me and her uncle never did get married. I was so happy when I found out about you and your brother." She instantly felt a wave of confusion swell over her when she saw the younger girl's expression drop. Yukina looked away from the older woman. "Is…there something wrong?"_

_The younger girl sighed, "It's…difficult…" The younger girl paused for a moment to look at the older woman, Tsunade was staring at her patiently. "Ever since I was a little girl…I have hated the very thought of Naruto." Tsunade cocked an eyebrow up, slightly shocked at the girl's statement. "Ever since I read my mother's letter, I've felt so much loneliness, even though I had my grandparents with me every step of the way. This loneliness was caused by the nine-tailed fox, and that just seemed to manifest itself into hatred. My mother's letter spoke of the truth of the demon's defeat. He was sealed inside the body of a boy, and ever since then, I've blamed this boy for my loneliness…" She sighed, "I even tried to kill him, when I first met him…" She sighed as she found it harder and harder to continue, "He beat me…rather quickly too, it required two ANBU to stop him from killing me; and even while he was being restrained, I tried attack him. It was all black and white for me since then, Naruto was a demon fox and he needed to be killed."_

Tsunade sighed, "It seems that many people have the same opinon as you do…"

"_Did" the girl corrected, "Do-Did-Do…I just don't know…Ever since I read my father's letter, I've been so confused. Part of me had a huge ache in my heart ever since I've read the truth. The other side of me couldn't believe a single word that my father wrote of. My grandparents, after having a long talk with Jiraiya-sensei, expressed their concerns for him, that they wanted to have a nice long chat with him; and they expected me to do the same. However, some of the senior ninja's that I've spoken with have declined this fact, that my brother died a long time ago and all that is left is the demon fox that lives in his body."_

_Tsunade nodded, though Yukina noted a twitching vein above her eye. "And what do you believe…"_

"…_Until a while ago…I didn't know what to believe. I've spent the seven weeks that Naruto was gone, going to find you, thinking about this situation. Then the night before he left…I went to go speak to him." Yukina looked down, "He didn't even give me a chance to speak, he just exploded completely."_

"_And do you blame him…"_

"_To be honest that night I was furious with him, but to be honest, at the moment I don't. And so he left…"_

_Tsunade had a thoughtful look on her face. Yukina couldn't even meet the older woman's eyes. Tsunade continued thinking until out of the blue she just started giggling. After a while she started out right laughing to herself. Yukina looked at the older kunoichi in confusion, partial anger, but mostly in fear. _

"_Ummm? Tsunade-ne-chan?"_

_Tsunade stopped giggling, "Hmmm, it'll probably be best to wait a few years…" she muttered to herself._

_Yukina raised an eyebrow, not hearing what the older woman said, "Tsunade-ne-chan? Did you say something?"_

_Tsunade looked at the younger girl, "Nothing at all…listen I didn't bring you hear to bring up bad memories, tell me a bit about yourself…"_

_Yukina looked at her oddly, "…Well…ok…"_

_---End Flashback---_

To this day Yukina couldn't figure out what was so funny or what Tsunade was thinking about. She sighed as she continued walking. They had spent the rest of the afternoon talking.

'I wonder-'

"YUKINA-HIME!" yelled two voices in an eerie sync.

The blonde girl, looking directly ahead of her, seeing her sensei and teammate who almost looked perfectly alike. With matching green spandex, orange leg warmers, and chunin/jounin vests. Behind them she could see her less than enthusiastic teammate, Kiba, leaning against his rather large dog, Akamaru. She forced a smile as she walked to them.

_---Wind Country---_

Surrounded on almost all sides by the burning desert, stood two figures, cloaked almost completely in black, with red clouds. They each had a straw hat, which almost completely concealed their faces. They were both walking, with a destination and a target in mind. They could see it over the horizon…

The Village Hidden in the Sand, Sunagakure

_---Sungakure---_

Naruto sighed as he continued walking through the streets of the village. Despite all the sand, and the burning sun, it was actually quite nice. Naruto had especially grown fond of the people, mostly due to the fact that they had accepted Gaara as a human and not a demon. They didn't know a damn thing about Naruto, but many of them glanced at them with something that looked like respect, just because of the fact that Naruto was a ninja.

Naruto looked around, not really finding anything suspicious. Children were running around. Adults were buying things from the merchants. 'And all those birds are doing nose dives straight toward us.'

Naruto sighed as he pulled out a kunai, not knowing exactly what he was too expect when the birds landed. He saw three out in front of all the others, they would be the first to collide with the earth, and they were going too fast to land. They crashed against the earth, away from the civilians, and started exploding. The explosions caused the citizens to start screaming in terror and rushing away.

Naruto's eyes widened at the debris and dust created from the explosions.

_---Kazekage Tower---_

Gaara body flickered outside of the tower, to be met by a large group of jounins, his brother out in front. Gaara looked at the crowd of gathered Jounin, obviously some of them were still in the village trying to help some of the villagers.

Gaara opened his mouth to speak but paused when he felt two chakra signatures just outside of the village. He turned to the crowd, "All of you go out and help the villagers." He turned to Kankuro, "You come with me." Kankuro nodded as all the ninja jumped away into the village.

Kankuro sighed as he fingered the scroll in his pocket, a moment later he jumped away to, following his brother to the two chakra signatures.

_---Village---_

"MOMMY!" screamed a child, completely surrounded in flames. He kept looking around for someone to help him and his eyes widened when he looked above him, seeing another one of the exploding birds coming straight at him. "AHHHHHHH!!!" He screamed covering his head.

Seconds before the bird hit, the child felt a strong pair of arms wrap around him and his body flying through the air, he heard the explosion, but didn't feel a thing afterwards. After a moment he felt himself be placed back on the ground. He looked up to see his savoir, a blonde teenager, with whisker marks on his cheeks.

Naruto stood back up after placing the little boy on the ground. The first three birds crashed harmlessly, however there were at least a hundred more that weren't nearly as kind. He noted that there weren't any more birds attacking the village. However, all around him were many people who were strewn all about, dead. "MOMMY!" Naruto snapped his head in the direction the little boy was running, he ran to the body of a woman on the ground and started shaking her, muttering "Mommy."

Naruto walked towards the woman, he crouched down right next to her and placed two fingers on his neck to feel for a pulse, there was none. Naruto stood up and shook his head. At this point the boy was bawling on his mother's corpse.

Naruto growled as he searched for the two chakra signatures he had felt earlier, his eyes changing blood red. A second later Naruto disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

_---Outside of Sunagakure---_

Naruto landed a few meters from the fighting. On one side he could see Kankuro, controlling three puppets, facing off with a hunched back, wearing an Akatsuki cloak. On the other side he could see Gaara facing off with a blonde man, also wearing an Akatsuki cloak.

Naruto growled when he saw more birds encircling the blonde and walked over to them both.

Deidara laughed when he saw Naruto walk to stand next to Gaara, "Uzumaki Naruto, I never thought I'd have the pleasure to take both you and Sabaku no Gaara out."

**"HA! This idiot doesn't know what he's talking about"**, the fox laughed.

'Give me your Chakra!'

The Kyuubi nodded within his cage as he started pumping the blonde with demonic chakra, as the boy's eyes changed crimson red and his pupils changed from round to slit-like. His whisker-marks became larger, and claws grew on his hands.

Deidara smiled as he sent eight birds straight at the two ninja. Naruto quickly did a few hand seals, "**Mokuton: Moku Jōheki!**", a moment after he called out his jutsu the birds collided, surrounding him in smoke and dust.

Gaara on the other hand didn't move at all. His sand acted on it's own to protect him from Deidara's attack, the explosion causing smoke to appear around Gaara, but not enough to block their view of each other. Deidara smirked when he saw Gaara easily defend against his attack. Deidara laughed, "At least one of you has a decent defense-" Deidara paused when he saw the smoke from the attack on Naruto clear up revealing what looked like a wooden dome.

Naruto, behind the half-dome, started doing hand seals. "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Oni Moku Bunshin!**" Red chakra started seeping out of Naruto's body and started forming two demonic fox figures.

Deidara raised his armed, forming ten birds out of clay at the same time. "Come out come out…NINE-TAILED FOX!" He screamed as he sent the birds straight at Naruto's wooden shield.

Gaara's eyes widened as he saw two fox-like creatures jump out from behind Naruto's shield and right into the line of flight of Deidara's birds, taking a full on collision and exploding. Deidara smirked as he saw the two foxes blow up. A moment later his eyes narrowed when the smoke clear, he saw both foxes still standing. One of them seemed to have deep scratches throughout its purple body. The second was in a similar condition but was also missing it's front right limb, trying to balance on the remaining three. Deidara grinned at the state of the two beast, but his eyes widened as the two foxes started glowing red, and their wounds started healing. The second fox's limb started to re-grow as well. A moment after the initial explosion, the foxes were completely healed. They both glared and growled at Deidara before pouncing at him. Deidara stood his ground as the two demons pounced on him and sunk their teeth into his each side of his neck.

Gaara's eyes narrowed when he saw no response on Deidara's face. A moment later he saw Deidara smirk, before his body completely exploded, completely obliterating the two clones, sending sand flying into the air blocking Gaara's view. However, with a quick wave of his hand, all the sand quickly fell back down to the ground. The Kazekage didn't even turn around when he felt the chakra signature behind him, or when he heard the birds explode behind him. He turned his head to see a grinning Deidara behind him.

Deidara raised his hand to create more clay, but paused when Naruto, burning with red chakra, appeared right in front of him, delivering a punch against the man's face. Deidara quickly dodge Naruto's attack, and sent his own fist and connected with the blonde's stomach, sending Naruto flying backwards. Deidara pointed his hand straight at Naruto, showing the mouth on the palm of his hand. Deidara smirked as Naruto landed as he started forming more birds out of clay.

Naruto landed on his feet and started doing hand seals. He could see that Deidara had about twenty birds around him, "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan no jutsu!**" Just then eight demonic plants exploded out of the ground and flew straight at Deidara.

The missing nin from Iwagakure quickly jumped backwards to avoid the first plant's maw and quickly sent three of his birds to crash into it, blowing the plant up. He avoided the second and third plant by rolling to the side and sent another six straight at them, blowing them to pieces as well. Deidara then threw his remaining birds straight at the other five plants, which were all coming at him at the same time. He smirked as the massive explosion engulfed all of Naruto's demonic plants.

After the smoke cleared he could see Naruto standing in the same location, still bursting with red chakra. Deidara smirked as he raised his hand to create more clay but was forced to pause when he couldn't move his arm. He grimaced when he felt his arm surrounded by sand "**Sabaku Sōsō**", he heard Gaara muttered as he felt the sand crushed his right arm and tore it off at the elbow, it took every bit of Deidara's strength not to cry out. He could see the sand, which was carrying his arm; slowly move straight to Gaara, before going back into his Gourd. Deidara smirked as he tightened his cloak at his elbow, using it as a bandage to stop the bleeding. He then raised his left arm to the air, gathering a large amount of his remaining clay to create a large bird, at least five times as big as either of the ninja were. "Say goodbye to your village Kazekage."

Gaara's eyes widened as he saw Deidara launch the bird at his village. Gaara concentrated all of his chakra to completely disperse his Gourd into the sand that created it and he raised it all to intercept the bird that would destroy his entire village. "**Ryūsa Bakuryū (Quicksand in the Style of a Waterfall)!**" Gaara yelled as he sent a wave of sand straight at the bird, catching the creature in sand's clutches.

Naruto could only stare, as Gaara's sand stretched out from the ground to high into the air, barely managing to keep a hold of the bird.

Gaara quickly clenched his open hand, "**Sabaku Sōsō!**" Yelled the young Kazekage as the sand crushed the bird, creating a giant explosion

Naruto quickly shielded his face as a giant cloud of dust and sand passed the young blonde, engulfing the battlefield.

It took several moments before the dust cleared enough for Naruto to see. He turned his head to see Gaara, crouching on the ground, panting. Naruto quickly started looking for Deidara. However, the sound of another explosion quickly went through Naruto's ears as he snapped his head back towards Gaara. Seeing the young red head being blown forward and landing on the ground, unconscious. Naruto's eyes were at their widest, 'The explosion pierced through Gaara's defense-'

Naruto paused all thoughts when he felt two blades pierce his back. Naruto's eyes were still at there widest as he turned his head to see the other Akatsuki member, Sasori, behind him, piercing him with two kunai.

** "YOU IDIOT! YOU LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!"**, yelled the enraged fox.

Naruto could taste blood in his mouth, 'I…can't…move…can you…heal me?'

He could hear the fox growl, **"No…the reason you can't move is because your suffering from the effects of a strong poison…my chakra is doing everything it can to cure it."**

Naruto felt his muscles go numb as he fell to the ground, losing consciousness soon after.

Deidara laughed as he appeared right next to Gaara, holding his own arm, which was released when Gaara released his gourd to block Deidara's attack. Deidara gathered the rest of his clay and formed it to create a giant bird. "Very nice find, eh? Sasori no Danna?"

Sasori nodded as he picked up Naruto, slinging the blonde over his shoulder. He paused when he heard Deidara growl. "What's wrong?"

Deidara turned to Sasori, "I didn't have enough clay to create a big enough bird, I don't think it will be big enough to carry all four of us…"

Sasori growled, "Idiot…" But paused when he turned back to Suna, "More ninja's are coming, this could prove to be problematic. We can't afford to let these two die. The Kazekage will be better of here. We'll take Naruto and come back for Gaara."

Deidara nodded as Sasori threw the blonde onto the bird, jumping on himself, quickly followed by Deidara. A moment later, the bird took off, leaving the unconscious Kazekage, and his defeated brother, in the desert.

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**A/N: I hope this chapter was to everyones satisfactory...because if it wasn't...then i pretty much kept you all waiting for NO reason at all. Next chapter...i need to update one of my other fics first...but i promise that i'll get the next chapter up before my christmas break ends...(which reminds me to find out WHEN my christmas break ends).  
**

**So Naruto get's captured instead of Gaara. What will happen next? Will Naruto's friend's save him? Will Naruto Lose Kyuubi? Will he even care?**

**I DON'T KNOW! **

** ...or do i?**

**F.Y.I. somone asked earlier what religion had to do with reviewing...to be honest...it doesn't...i just wanted an excuse to use Jedi, Sith, and Klingon in here and that's how it worked out...yea...****  
**

**Please review. (OH! and feel free to rate Naruto's new abilities, on a scale of 1(sucks) to 10(awsome))  
**


	16. Rescue Naruto! Gaara Takes Control!

**Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N: Yea sorry about the LONG time without an update. I would explain...but frankly about ninty percent of you don't give a damn, and just want to read the story.**

**So i'll just say that i'll try not to let it happen again.**

**I hope you liked it...i put a lot of effort into it... **

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**Chapter 16: Rescue Naruto. Gaara Takes Control!  
**

"Ohhhhh…" Naruto groaned when he woke up. 'My head's killing me…'

** "It's about time you woke up! Damn idiot! I still can't believe you let yourself get captured…"** growled the fox yokai.

Naruto's eyes widened upon being reminded. He quickly looked around. It was dark…almost too dark to see. 'Looks like we're in some kind of cave.' He noted that he was on a rectangular table, which judging from his sore back, had to be made of stone. His arms were chained together, at the wrists, and bound to the table; as were his legs, bound at the ankles. The walls were made of a dark gray stone, leading him to believe that he was indeed inside of a cave. Naruto looked directly at the area, past his feet, noting a small amount of light, 'the way out.' He looked back, at the area past his head, and shivered when he noticed some kind of totem. From what he could make out, it was a large piece of brown wood, which was carved out to look like some kind of demon. All he could make out was a large maw, two pointy ears…and the thing that shown the most was the slitted eyes.

Naruto sighed, 'Well, I've had my fill of this place', he thought as he started to struggle with his bonds, it was at this time that he noticed that his hands were shut closed into fist, probably by some kind of tape or other adhesive. After a few moments he stopped struggling, noting that it was useless. Naruto closed his eyes as he started reaching deep into his chakra coils, looking for the small amount of red chakra that his demon had given him. His eyes snapped opened and were at their widest, 'I can't find the chakra that the fox gave me…' Naruto began to panic, 'Yo fox! Give me your chakra!'

Naruto heard a sigh, **"Sorry brat…I've actually been trying to give you chakra for a while now. However, something is blocking me from doing so. What's worse, the chakra I permanently gave you is locked away in your chakra coils."**

Naruto sighed when he heard the fox's response. They sat there for a few moments, or in Naruto's case, lay there. After a few moments Naruto started chuckling to himself. "So this is how it ends then. This sucks…just when my life started getting good too." He sighed as his resolve was finally broken. There would be no rescue, the Konaha council would never allow for the rescue of the 'Demon Child'. Waste of good shinobi. And Sand, though they were allies, and Naruto DID step in to help the Kazekage himself, their would be no help from them either, too great a risk to send shinobi against Akatsuki to save one chunin, especially a chunin from another ninja village, ally or not. Aside from the villages, only two people had the power to rescue him, one was bound to Konaha… and the other…might come to rescue him, stopping at every bar, bath house, and brothel along the way.

In Naruto's mind, he was doomed, and the only thing he could do was laugh maniacally at the whole thing.

"Find something funny Naruto-kun?"

Naruto ended his laughter, looking at the person who just appeared beside him, with a grin. "Well sort of. This reminds me of a scene in Icha Icha Paradise, at this point in the story, five women came into the room to 'play' with the captive hero, who also happened to be a blue-eyed, blonde. What are the chances of that happening in my case? How about it…Itachi."

The exiled Uchiha ACTUALLY cracked a smile, "I'm going to be honest with you, they're not very high!" Itachi looked at Naruto with a black look, the smile on his face completely disappearing, "You are here, so we can extract that demon from the seal on your stomach. Not to replay some scene that you've read in Jiraiya-sama's book."

Naruto's grin widened, ignoring the apparent respect that the Uchiha had for Jiraiya, "Oh come on…don't I at least get a last meal", said the blonde, assuming that the extraction process might kill him, "Wouldn't mind a few dozen bowls of ramen, maybe a few sticks of pocky-hmmph." Naruto's voice was muffled when he felt something jammed into his mouth, noting that it tasted like a stick of chocolate pocky.

Itachi turned to leave, but quickly said over his back, "We will begin when Deidara and Sasori return. Oh! And don't bother trying to call your demon for help", stated the Uchiha as he pointed downwards. Naruto followed his finger to the floor, just as a bunch of lines and writing started to glow a blood red color.

** "A seal!"**

After a moment, the seal stopped glowing, and Itachi walked out of the room. Naruto sighed as he started chewing on the pocky in his mouth, trying not to bite through it completely and lose the part of the stick that was outside of his mouth. 'Hmmm I wonder if he went to go get my ramen.'

**"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."**

Naruto grinned, 'So, I'm guessing you don't have a plan!'

**"Well…I do have one that might work. You remember how that pervert can summon toads, the pedophile summons snakes, and the surprisingly hot fifty-year old summons slugs?"** Naruto shook his head, ignoring the comments made about each of the sannin. **"They can do that because they eached signed a contract to summon their respective animal. I'm going to give you a similar contract, except THIS one will give you the ability to summon the even greater Foxes."** Kyuubi grinned in his mind, **"Summon a few of my kin, and these bastards will be ripped to shreds before they know it!"**

Naruto, for once, had a blank look on his face, "Wow…you can really give me the ability to summon foxes?"

** "Ummmmm…no…"** Naruto would have face faulted if he would have been standing up, but that didn't stop him from getting a huge sweat drop. Then Naruto heard laughing in his head, "**Hahahaha! I was just fucking with you…I don't have a contract to summon foxes, hahahahahahaha. But I did enjoy seeing that little spark of hope in your eyes die out."** Naruto's eye started twitching. **"Yea, you need a miracle kid, or you're screwed. Hahahahaha"**

Naruto's eye continued to twitch as he wished with all his might that he could slap the hell out of this fox.

_---Konaha Council---_

"We can not let him die!" screamed a very angry blonde man, as he slammed his fist against the table. "Such a thing would be an utter disgrace to the fourth hokage!"

One of the other council members glared at the man, "Fool! Saving the monstrosity that nearly wiped out our whole village would disgrace the Yondaime!"

And that's how it had been going for hours now. When word had reached Tsunade that Naruto had gotten captured, she quickly went to send a group of shinobi out to rescue him, however word had gotten to a few members of the council, who forbade it. And here they all were, an emergency council meeting was held, to decide the fate of the hero/demon of hidden leaf village.

Tsunade was distraught, though she didn't show it. Her hand had been forced, she would not even be allowed to vote in this meeting, unless there was a tie voting…and with seventeen members of the council, that was impossible. She knew five people for sure would vote to send a rescue party out for Naruto; Inuzuka Tsume, Yamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, and Kazama Ryuu Yukina. Aburame Shibi was, as always unclear on his position; he had remained quiet during the whole affair. Homura and Koharu, obviously against Naruto, hadn't spoken a word about the whole affair, though they kept glancing at each other. Danzo, a military man and the head of the ANBU group, ROOT, felt that they should leave the boy to his fate, saying that they had more pressing matters to worry about, namely the war with Sound. There were another seven council members, who were also against the rescue of the 'demon'. There was one man however…who Tsunade noticed had a look that could only be described as 'stick-up-his-ass, I-hope-each-and-every-single-one-of-you-bastards-rot-in-hell-for-dragging-me-here, I'm-fucking-Hyuuga-Hiashi.'…and this man went by the name of…Hyuuga Hiashi…

Hiashi was in anything but a good mood, and wasn't afraid to show it. Half of him really wanted to kill Naruto, just so he wouldn't be dragged to another meeting concerning him. 'Hinata almost had it too…' he thought to himself as he thought back to the events of today.

_---Flashback---_

_Hiashi watched on, a look of pure serenity on his face. He was standing in one of the many training fields that were in the Hyuuga complex. Right next to him stood his youngest daughter, Hanabi, dressed in an elegant blue robe, which matched the one her father had on. On the other side of Hiashi, stood his only nephew, Neji, wearing a white robe, which looked similar to his uncle's. Around the training field, stood multiple members of the Hyuuga clan, Main house and Branch house alike. They were watching the 'Late Bloomer', as Hiashi and Neji have come to call her, of the Hyuuga clan._

_They had learned a lot from watching people like Rock Lee, Shikamaru, and Naruto fight during the chunin exams. All were young men who most people thought would die in their first real mission, yet surprised each and every single person during the exams, with what Hiashi assumed was some kind of hidden power. Hiashi, realized how he'd been acting towards his oldest daughter, came before Hinata after the Sound-Sand invasion and begged her to come back to the Hyuuga compound, she had been living with Kurenai since then. Even if she never became the strongest ninja she could be, she was still his daughter, and he could finally see the strength in her heart, that one little special thing that she had inside. Hinata had accepted eagerly, though was a bit heart broken at being separated from her sensei. Hiashi, though he didn't care whether Hinata ever became strong or not, had a theory which he dubbed "The Late Bloomers", from watching Naruto, Shikamaru, and Lee, so he decided to test this theory out on Hinata._

_He smiled as he watched her fight, 'She has truly bloomed indeed.'_

_Hinata was in the center of an arena, fighting off a high chunin level ninja of the clan. She was wearing a robe that matched her father and sister down to the color, and her now long her was tied into a ponytail. She smirked as she closed another two chakra points off of her opponent. Her father had been training her almost non-stop. And when he wasn't training her, Neji or Kurenai did so. Hinata and Neji had become closer than ever, as did she with Hanabi. Hinata smirked as she dodged a strike of her opponent, and quickly closed another two points on his right arm, making him flinch._

_She smirked as she was about to bring out the fruit of all her hard work and some secret training she had been doing, "It's over…your in the range of my Hakke." With the use of her Byakkugan she could see most of the crowd's eyes widen, including her own father's. **"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!" **She launched her self out him striking him twice quickly, "Two Strikes!" She quickly kept striking at him, in a dance that could spell doom for most opponents, "Four Strikes!" Hiashi stared on in amazement as he watched her, taking careful note that almost every hit was 100 accurate. "Eight Strikes! Sixteen Strikes! Thirty-two Strikes! Sixty-four Strikes-" The moment she said this, Hiashi looked closer…to watch every strike more carefully than ever._

_She was still hitting with high precision, 'Sixty…sixty-one…sixty-two…' he continued to count in his head. Time seemed to slow down during number sixty-three, this point was the naval, and it seemed that Hinata was once again inches away from making a precise hit._

_POOF!_

_And at THAT very moment an explosion of smoke appeared right next to Hiashi, on the side that Neji was on. His eyes glanced at the ANBU who appeared next to him and was about to question him when…_

"_AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

_With his Byakkugan, which had been activated during the whole fight, Hiashi could clearly see that Hinata, obviously startled from the explosion, missed the man's naval, and hit him…_

…

_About six inches lower…_

_Causing every man, Neji included, to subconsciously squeeze their legs shut. Every woman suddenly adopted a sympathetic look for poor man's…predicament. Hinata, and Hanabi, were blushing like mad, the former looked so embarrassed that she was on the verge of tears._

_Hiashi, though in the same condition as just about every man their, including the ANBU, was not amused though, but he said in a calm voice, "Hinata…you mustn't allow yourself to be distracted by ANYTHING during a fight, else your opponent might take advantage of it." 'Though in this case, I doubt he would be able to do anything for hours.' He thought about the poor man who was at the moment on the ground, clutching…himself._

_Hiashi sighed as he turned to the ANBU, with a look that said 'You-better-be-here-for-something-important!'_

_The ANBU, gulped behind his mask, as he held out a scroll for the Hyuuga clan head. Hiashi quickly looked at the scroll, with his Byakkugan activated, he didn't even have to open it. He mentally groaned when he saw the name, 'Naruto'. "Your message has been delivered, now get out", he said in a voice as cold as ice._

_The ANBU nodded as he quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke. Hiashi turned to Hinata, who was looking down, with a red face. Then he looked at the man at her feet, which nobody had bothered to help. "Try it again Hinata. Tenchi-" he started, indicating the man on the ground, "-your up for another fight, right?" With that, half the crowd sweatdropped._

_---End Flashback---_

And so he was forced into the council room a few hours later to decide what to do about Naruto's capture. He hated this part of his title so much that he honestly couldn't wait to pass on the title of Clan Head to one of his daughters, problem was he would have to decide which one he truly loved the most, and then the OTHER could be the head of the Hyuuga clan. 'Maybe I could just have Neji do it…'

"This is getting us nowhere…" Tsunade muttered, obviously annoyed with the whole thing. "There are seventeen of you here. Cast your votes now. Who wishes to leave Uzumaki Naruto in the hands of Akatsuki." Tsunade cocked an eyebrow when only eight members of the council, raised their hands. Almost everyone there was looking straight at Homura and Koharu, who obviously hated the boy, but didn't vote. 'They must not be voting…' she thought to herself. "Who wishes to send out a rescue party." Her eyes widened, "Another eight hands were raised. Tsume, Shikaku, Inoichi, Choza, Aburame Shibi, Yukina, and…Homura AND Koharu."

One of the council members gawked at the latter two, "Why…"

Koharu glared at him, "Simple…leaving such a power in the hands of monsters like the Akatsuki is a mistake. Letting them harness that power will spell doom for the village."

Homura nodded at her old teammate's words, "The boy needs to either be locked up or executed, however that can be decided at a later date, the important thing is that the Kyuubi no Kitsune must not be allowed to fall into the hands of Akatsuki.

Everyone was speechless at this turn of events.

"Eight votes to Eight votes…a tie?" Tsunade cocked an eyebrow up. Had she counted wrong? She thought to herself, with a sliver of hope, 'Maybe I can still vote to save him…'

"Wait! Lord Hiashi still hasn't voted!" One of the other council members spoke…

And with that, her hoped died out…

Hiashi mentally sighed as everyone in the council room turned to him. If he didn't vote, since it was a tie, he would be forced to sit here for another few hours, to listen to rants on whether or not the boy deserved to live or not. He momentarily mused with the thoughts of letting the boy die, never again would he be forced to another meaningless council meeting over Naruto's fate. He was about to open his mouth to speak, but then he thought of something else… He started scanning the room, 'Hmmm…Which one of you assholes was it that initiated this accursed meeting…' his eyes landed on one, Masaki Kazuya. He knew that Kazuya hated the boy with a passion, having lost a majority of his clan to the attack 15 years ago. 'You are the bastard who dragged me over here…' He smirked inwardly to himself, "I vote…to send a rescue party out…"

And with that declaration came absolute silence...

Tsunade was speechless. Hyuuga Hiashi voted to SAVE someone…someone who wasn't even part of his own clan. Everyone else, save Yukina who didn't know any better, was looking at him with a similar look.

"I believe that it has been decided. With nine votes to eight, I believe that a rescue party must be sent out, and with that, I take my leave", spoke the head of the Hyuuga as he walked out the door of the council room, muttering the word, "dimwits", to everyone in the room.

_---Sunagakure---_

"Lord Kazekage! Please won't you reconsider? I don't understand why you would join a mission to save some ninja from another village?" asked an aged man, dressed in formal robes.

Gaara glanced back at the man, with a stoic expression on his face. The young man, instead of his Kazekage robes, opted to wear a dark red jacket, which reached all the way down to his feet. It was zipped up from his waist to his neck and held in place with a brown leather, one strapped, vest. Under his vest he was wearing black pants and black ninja sandals. His Gourd was on his back, like usual. He decided to answer the man, "Multiple reasons-" he began, which surprised his sister, who was standing behind him. She honestly didn't think he would GIVE a reason for his actions so willingly; she was still having issues getting used to this 'new' Gaara, though she truly did prefer him. "-this ninja was captured while trying to aid me in combat, that is the first reason. The second reason is that I may require his services in the future; too handle this threat, these…men of the Red Moon." And with that said, Gaara continued walking.

The old man addressing Gaara, quickly followed, "But-"

"Yes! It has to be me, who goes-", he began, knowing exactly what the Old man was going to say, "-and no, I can't bring an army of jounins with me, we'd bring too much attention to ourselves. Besides that, according to our sources, these men operate on the border between our country and the Land of Rain; and bringing an army with me would be too suspicious. Temari and whoever the Leaf sends will suffice."

As he was walking out the village gate, he noticed his brother and his old sensei waiting for him near the gate.

Gaara looked at Kankuro, who looked back at his brother with a pleading look. Kankuro wasn't hurt too badly by the poisons Sasori had injected into his body, the older man having been distracted by the unaware fox jinchuriki. Gaara, though irritated by Naruto's capture, was relieved for Kankuro's safety, knowing that the Sand Nuke-nin had much deadlier poison in his possession. Gaara glanced back at Kankuro, who had the same pleading looked that he'd had all day; the older ninja, wanted to accompany his brother and sister on the mission to rescue Naruto; however, Gaara had forbidden it. Kankuro, though not seriously injured, was injured nonetheless, and Gaara didn't want the boy involved in this fight. He looked at both Baki and Kankuro, "I trust you both to watch over the village in my absence." With that said, Gaara turned and left.

Temari nodded in Kankuro's direction, "Don't worry, I'll watch out for him." She paused for a few moments before adding, "And make sure that 'Lazy Ass' pulls his weight, otherwise he'd just lay around all day and look up at the clouds." She said as she followed her youngest brother.

Gaara sighed as he felt a presence appear in front of him. What he found, upon closer expection, was just a little old lady. "Council member Chiyo? What do you want?" he asked in the same stoic expression he always has.

The old lady looked at him calmly, "If you're going to fight Sasori, you'll need my help", She stated calmly. Gaara narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to decline her offer but was cut off before he began, "I have the skills necessary to defeat him", she continued, "I know him…well enough to do so."

Gaara's expression never softened as he said, "Very well", and continued walking, with Temari right behind him.

_---Naruto---_

Naruto never felt more annoyed than he felt right now. He was still strapped to the same accursed table, whilst Deidara and Sasori, who finally returned, were drawing a second seal around Naruto, over the first seal they originally drew. Naruto's annoyance came directly from the conversation between two of the most powerful ninjas in existence.

"Your wrong, Sasori no Danna! Art is something that is brief and leaves the world as quickly as it is created", argued the blonde member of Akatsuki.

"Fool…Real fine art is something that is eternal, any 'true' artist will tell you the same", argued the red head.

Naruto began lifting his head up and continuously slamming it against the hard stone table. After a few moments, Naruto stopped what he was doing and turned his head to Kisame, who was leaning against the rocky wall. "You seem to be tuning them out pretty well, any tips?"

Kisame chuckled at the blonde. He glanced at his two comrades, noticing that neither of them seemed to hear the annoyed blonde, as they were both still arguing about what true art was. He turned to the blonde, "I know one method, I can cut off you legs, and you'll be in so much pain, that you won't even notice what those two are talking about."

Naruto smiled eerily at the man, "Make it my head and you got yourself a deal."

Kisame shook his head, "Sorry, but you still have about two days of living left."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, "Two days?"

Kisame nodded, "The process of extracting the demon within you takes a little over two days to complete."

"Great…so I'm stuck with you assholes for another two days…", Naruto groaned sarcastically

Kisame shrugged, "It could be worse, the old process of extracting a demon took three days, and required all nine of us to perform the extraction. You see, we start by slowly extracting the demon's charka from the seal, and any that may be still lingering in your charka coils. Anyway, we seal all the charka into that statue that you've been admiring, the one behind you head. Unfortunately, the charka isn't at our control until we have the last missing component. The demon's soul. That's the last thing we extract from the seal. You'll have a great view of it right before you die", grinned the shark man. "Unfortunately for you, the process of extracting the soul tends to have ill effects towards the charka coils. So much so, that the user usually ends up dieing."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, "Usually? Don't tease me with the probability of death. It's the only thing that keeps me sane", he paused for a moment to listen in on Deidara and Sasori's bickering on true art, "with these two idiots talking about useless crap and all."

"Done!" Deidara claimed. Naruto looked to his side to see part of the complex seal that the two members of Akatsuki had created. "A beautiful work of art if I do say so myself!" He took a glance over in Sasori's direction before adding, "And in about two days, no one will even know that it was here, it will have completely disappeared by the end of the extraction process!"

Sasori nodded, "Therefore it's not art…" he added.

Deidara glared at the red head. He opened his mouth to argue but was cut off.

"Enough!" All four ninja, Naruto included to some degree, turned their heads to see Itachi at the opening to the cave. "Kisame, come with me. Sasori stand guard outside of the cave. Deidara, you perform the extraction process."

All the older ninja nodded.

"Wait! What! Your letting this blonde idiot do something like this? Are you trying to kill me?" asked the blonde, still smiling.

Itachi, obviously paid him no heed, as he continued walking away, Sasori and Kisame behind him.

Deidara smiled at him, "I'm sorry Naruto-kun…but unfortunately our leader, who normally performs the extraction process, is currently preoccupied with matters elsewhere. So I, on Itachi-kun's order, will have to do the extraction." He then leaned in very close to him, placing one of his hands above the boy's face, "But don't worry…I'll be gentle", the older blonde winked at the younger, as the mouth on his hand started snapping at him, sending a chill through the younger one's spine. Deidara grinned as he kneeled down in front of the most outer point of the second seal. The seal was composed of a large circle, about twenty feet in diameter, with some kind of writing on the inside. "Now Naruto-kun, you might feel a slight pinch", he said as the seal on the floor started to glow a bright white color.

Naruto's eyes snapped as wide as they could go the second the seal activating. He groaned and growled, resisting the urge to scream, 'DAMN IT! A SLIGHT PINCH! IT FEELS LIKE HE'S IMPALING ME WITH KUNAI!'

_--- Konaha Gates---_

When her team went on their first real mission and ended up fighting Zabuza and Haku…

When she, and Sasuke, fought against Orochimaru…

When she found out about the monstrosity that Naruto kept at bay with a tattoo on his stomach…

When the Sound and Sand invaded Leaf…

When the team of five of her friends went on the mission to retrieve Sasuke…

When she was forced to wake Tsunade up, after the latter was up all night drinking and doing paperwork…

All those times, were moments Sakura saw her life flash before her eyes. But nothing was as scary as the moment right before her. She was assigned to a mission today, to rescue her old teammate, something which she was ready to do, and Kami help the bastards who got in her way. She had walked to the meeting spot, right at the city gates. She was the SECOND person to arrive, and the FIRST to arrive was…

"Long time no see Sakura…" muttered the one and only Copy ninja, never taking his eyes out of his book. He was wearing a standard ANBU outfit. He still wore his face mask over his mouth and nose. And his Hitai-ate was still on his head, covering his left eye. But now he wore a light, white, leather vest, and black clothing. A black anbu Katana on his back and a white dog mask on his belt. "You seem stronger. That's good."

Sakura stared at him, white as a ghost.

After receiving no reply, Kakashi tore his eye away from Jiraiya's work of art, and stared at the now shorthaired Kunoichi. She still wore her Hitai-ate on her head, like a hair band. She was wearing a dark red shirt and black shorts, getting rid of her old shinobi dress. And instead of her ninja shoes, she now wore dark black boots. Kakashi noted that she looked pale, "Are you ok, Sakura?"

Sakura quickly took a look at the sun, noting that SHE was probably about five minutes early for their meeting. She continued to look at her old sensei for a few moments before putting her hands into a seal, "**KAI (Release)!**" she screamed as she tried to release the genjutsu. It didn't work. "**KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI!**" She kept trying. After a few moments she stopped, and looked back at Kakashi, who had a look of confusion on the part of his face that was visible. She quickly looked pass the older ninja to the two ANBU who were guarding the village gate, they both shrugged. She looked back at Kakashi. "Sensei?"

Kakashi nodded, slightly confused by Sakura's antics. "Yes…"

She blinked, "Is that really you?" she looked at him skeptically.

Kakashi cocked his visible eye up, "Yes…why do you ask?"

Sakura looked at him oddly, "You're actually on time…early even…"

Kakashi face-faulted…

Sakura felt a presence appear next to her. She turned to see her new team leader, Rin.

Rin, dressed in her standard jounin outfit, stared at Kakashi, who had just picked himself off the ground. She glanced at Sakura with an odd expression, before putting her hands in a hand seal, "**KAI!**"

This caused the copy nin to nearly face-fault again, "I'M NOT A GENJUTSU!"

Rin and Sakura stared at him oddly, "Oh…"

"Geez…I'm not always THAT late, am I?" asked the copy nin and nearly face-faulted again when he saw both girls nod. "Never mind."

"YOSH!"

Everyone turned their heads to see the youngest Green Beast of Konaha running to them at top speeds. He paused when he reached the group, "BRIGHT AND EARLY I SEE! I'M GLAD TO JOIN YOU ALL ON OUR YOUTHFUL JOURNEY TO RESCUE NARUTO-KUN!"

Everyone sweat dropped at Lee.

"Lee, keep your voice down…" muttered a very annoyed Hyuuga, as he walked towards the group. Neji sighed as he reached the group, "We shouldn't be announcing our mission to the whole world!"

Lee gulped, "Your right…I apologize for yelling earlier."

Kakashi sighed, he hated working with Gai for reasons like these, and Lee was almost as bad. He turned his head as he saw another member of their troupe appear.

Sakura nearly squealed when she turned to see one of her new best friends show up, "Rei! You're here!"

Rei smiled at Sakura and Rin…but quickly turned to Kakashi with an odd look, "Hmmmm, I suppose Naruto-nisan was over exaggerating when he claimed that you were always two and a half hours late for anything and everything, Kakashi-san."

Rin and Sakura giggled, as Kakashi growled.

Rei was wearing, a light blue battle kimono, with standard ninja sandals and her wakizashi strapped to her back, at her waist Her long silver hair was tied into a bun, held up by senbon needles.

Another person quickly found their way to the group. Kakashi turned to the new person to enter the group, it was Yukina. She wore a standard chunin outfit, with her three-piece staff, strapped to her back, at her waist. Kakashi nodded at him, and he nodded back. He quickly turned to the two ANBU at the gate, who in turn nodded back at him. He smiled under his mask.

Lee grinned at the girl, giving her his famous good-guy pose, "Yukina-hime! I'm so glad to see that you made it."

Yukina nodded to her teammate.

Surprisingly, Neji went up to her, "We have not been formally introduced…I am Hyuuga Neji.

The girl stared at Neji through blue eyes, "Ryuu Kazama Yukina…"

Neji nodded to back at her.

Sakura looked at the girl skeptically, "Why are YOU here?" Everyone turned to look at Sakura. Sakura, forgetting where she was place, quickly took a quick glance at Lee and Neji, and forced herself to chage her question. "The council is allowing you to go on this mission?" Yukina opened her mouth to answer, but was stopped when Rin answered for her.

"The Hokage feels that Yukina's talents will be of great asset to the mission and is sure the council would have recognized this fact as well."

Sakura nodded, 'Translation, _Tsunade-sensei has some ridiculous plan, probably involving Yukina and Naruto, and as long as the council knows nothing about it, they can't interfere with her._" Sakura sighed. It took only a few seconds for her to regain her cheery attitude though, as her second teammate made her arrival, "Haku! You're here."

The older girl smiled at her teammate. Kakashi nodded to the eighteen year old girl, the newest addition to ANBU. Like Kakashi, she wore a standard ANBU outfit. Her black katana, which would probably remain untouched, was strapped to her back. Her mask, which was a dragon, was strapped to her belt. Her Hitai-ate was on her head, keeping her hair out of her face.

Kakashi nodded at his temporary teammates, he was glad to be able to participate in the mission. When he heard of Naruto's capture and the mission to rescue him, he had barged into the Hokage's office and DEMANDED he be allowed to participate. Unfortunately, during his sudden adrenaline rush, caused by his former student's capture, he forgot about Tsunade's bad temper. However, after crashing through two doors and landing on a desk, he quickly remembered why it didn't help to be rude to the blonde kunoichi. Though after he regained consciousness, she happily allowed him to participate.

Kakashi sighed as he looked at the group in front of him. All of them were prodigies. Haku, now an ANBU member, was probably already one of the best water jutsu users in the village, and she also had the ability to use ice jutsu. Yukina, was an expert in the Ryuu fighting style, using the three-piece staff, and was quickly becoming an outstanding ninja in other aspects, including the fact that she had a few high level jutsu in her aresenal. Neji, the prodigy of the Hyuuga, at the tender age of sixteen, was being considered for ANBU as well, making him the third youngest member, ever to make it into ANBU. The only other ninja who were younger than him, to be accepted into ANBU, being Kakashi and Itachi. Rock Lee, though couldn't use chakra, was a powerhouse with Taijutsu, and a complete speed demon. Rei and Sakura…he had no idea about those two. He hadn't actually seen them fight. He heard the rumors of Sakura being a powerful medic-nin, with potential to surpass Tsunade herself. Rei, was becoming a master with Genjutsu and Kenjutsu, or so he heard. There was also a rumor that she had a certain Kinjutsu, under her belt as well.

He turned to his temporary team: Neji, Lee, and Yukina. Apparently Gai and Kiba had joined a mission with another squadron, who needed their skills to complete an assignment. Neji was in a similar situation with his team, though he WAS going to accompany his team, Tsunade had held him back. Tsunade to add a second team to the mission to rescue Naruto, Tsunade had added Neji to the two remaining members of team Gai, and placed them all under Kakashi.

And so, team Rin and the temporary team Kakashi was sent to rescue the wayward Jinchuriki.

"Let's move!" said the copy ninja. Everyone with him nodded as they all disappeared.

_---Somewhere in Sound Country---_

A loan figure stood in the middle of a scourched battlefield. He was dressed completely in black, with a black katana on his back. All around him were dismembered bodies and body parts, some burned beyond the point of recognition.

A Silver-haired ninja appeared right next to the boy, "Not bad Sasuke-kun! But did you really HAVE to kill these men. They WERE our comrades, and this was just a training exercise."

Sasuke didn't even bat an eye, "Orochimaru said to defeat them by any means neccessary." With that said, he turned and walk off, back to the Sound Village.

Kabuto glared at his back, "He's never this brutal with ninja's from other villages. I better speak with Orochimaru-sama." With that he dissapeared as well.

_---Two days later, on the Edge of Wind Country---_

The eight Konaha nins landed in a clearing inhabited by three impatient sand-nin.

Temari turned towards the team from Konaha and smiled. Gaara didn't even turn, he just kept looking in the direction that he believed Naruto would be at. And Chiyo…

"Sakumo!"

Kakashi quickly, and narrowly, dodged the kunai thrown by the elderly lady. He quickly pulled out a kunai of his own to defend himself, but it wasn't necessary. A large wall of sand was blocking the way.

"If you came all this way to instigate troubles with hidden Leaf, then maybe you should just go home. You're embarrassing our village by attacking our allies!" muttered the Sand Biju container, his eyes never leaving the spot he in the forest he was looking at.

Chiyo sighed, though it sounded like a growl, as she put away the other three kunai she was preparing to throw, "Forgive me Kazekage-sama, Sakumo and I-"

"Kakashi", the silver haired male cut her off. As the sand wall started to dissipate he stared at Chiyo blankly, "Sakumo was my father."

The fact that Kakashi used the word was gave Chiyo the urge to smile, but she held it back, "Forgive me for the mistake, Hatake-san…" she muttered with a bow.

Kakashi nodded as he turned to Gaara. "We came here as fast as we could? Any idea where Naruto could be?"

Gaara nodded, "My scouts told me, they saw the bird that the two from Akatsuki rode on, go in that direction", pointing in the direction that he had been looking at. "At first I was afraid that they had may have changed course…but those fools decided to fly in a straight line."

Rock Lee cocked one of his gargantuan eyebrows, "But how do you know for sure that they are in that direction?"

Gaara, still not taking his eyes off the direction, replied, "Because, if I hone my senses enough, can feel the demon in Naruto's stomach. It's been something I've been practicing doing for a long time now. I have carefully identified Naruto's demonic chakra, as well as the demonic chakra of three others like us." Gaara paused for a moment, "I'm sure that if you were to ask Naruto, he'd tell you that he possesses the same ability."

Lee looked confused for a moment before saying, "Demon?"

Kakashi flinched, Rock Lee didn't know anything about Naruto's demon. He quickly turned away from Lee's confused face to look at Rin. She wouldn't even look at them, 'No help'. Kakashi sighed, 'I guess I have to tell him now.' He quickly looked around to see if there were any other confused faces. Haku's face was etched in confusion. Rei's face was etched in confusion as well, though she was staring at Gaara. 'Naruto must have mentioned Kyuubi to her; but I wonder why she would be looking at Gaara like that.'

Kakashi waved Haku over, as he stood in front of Rock Lee. "You see Lee, the reason Akatsuki wants Naruto is because…"

At this point, Neji tuned the whole conversation out, as he leaned against a tree. He already heard the conversation before. He was briefed on Naruto's 'tenant' a few hours before the team had met. Tsunade specifically requested a Hyuuga take part in the mission; since the Hyuuga could see chakra, she wanted someone who could find Naruto's red chakra from far away. Hiashi suggested Neji for the mission, since the boy already witnessed and observed the boy from afar; during the chunin exams, on the chance, the very slim chance in Neji's opinion at the time, that he would have to fight Naruto during the final rounds. However this meant that Neji had to be briefed on Naruto's affiliation with the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

In the end it all made a kind of sick twisted sense for Neji. From Naruto's attitude, to the power he showed when he was fighting Gaara.

"YOSH! Naruto-san's youth burns brighter than I ever thought it did!"

Neji sighed, Lee had effectively cut off his thoughts. The Hyuuga turned to Rock Lee, to see him hopping up and down excitedly. Obviously Naruto's story had inspired the ninja.

"Enough small talk…" muttered the red head Sand ninja. "The extraction process has already started."

At this point everyone's eyes widened.

"How could you possibly know that?" asked the daughter of the Yondaime.

Still not taking his eyes from the same spot, he answered, "Because, for the pass two days, I've noticed his demonic chakra pulsing. But now that I'm closer to them, I can see the truth. It isn't pulsing, it's being drained."

Kakashi nodded, "Jiraiya said that the process takes three days to complete."

At that point Rin sighed to herself, 'Damn pervert just had to be in Water Country at such a crucial time.' "Ok then. We have to tread about this very carefully then. If we lost two days already, then we still have one day to stop the extraction process-"

"Not necessarily." The copy ninja cut her off. "Jiraiya could have possibly made a mistake when he was calculating the time. I'm not saying that we should just rush in there, without a plan, but we do need to hurry."

"I don't think it matters one way or another." Everyone turned to Neji, whom had his Byakkugan activated. For once in his life, he actually looked nervous. "We're…not that far from the location that the men…from Akatsuki are at…no more than seven hundred feet…and well…"

At this point Sakura was growing impatient, "And well what! Spit it out!"

Neji sighed, "I can see one of the men looking directly at me."

Sakura's eyes widened, "Impossibl, from SEVEN HUNDRED FEET, he must be looking at something else…"

"He's smirking at me. He keeps activating and deactivating his sharingan."

Kakashi growled, "Itachi…" He quickly looked at Neji.

Gaara growled, "Even those men have their limits...If they know we're here, it's because they are sensing MY chakra, I doubt they can sense human chakra from that distance."

"Can you tell me who else is with him."

Neji nodded, regaining his composure, "I believe the other man is called Kisame." At that point Haku flinched. "I remember Gai-san speak of him, back when he was still my sensei. The sword the man's holding looks like the one Gai-san described. Then theirs one near the opening of a cave; all I can make out from him is that he seems to be a hunchback, and he's wearing a slashed sand Hitai-ate."

"That must be the man who attacked Gaara, Kankuro, and Naruto. Kankuro described him as a hunchback with a sand Hitai-ate. He said he recognized the man as **Akasuna no Sasori (Sasori of the Red Sand)**." She paused for a moment to glance back at Chiyo, who seemed to be surprisingly apathetic. "Sasori is a very dangerous Puppet User. Rumor has it he took down an entire country by just using his puppets." This caught most of the younger ninjas by surprise.

Gaara, for the first time, turned to the ninja of leaf, more specifically Neji, "Do you see Naruto, or a blonde man with long hair."

Neji shook his head, "No. If I had to guess, I'd say that the two of them are inside of the cave. There's a barrier at the entrance of the cave that's preventing me from seeing anything inside of it. Though I suppose it could be a trap."

Rin and Kakashi shook their heads, though it was Kakashi who spoke, "They wouldn't do something like that. They'd want to keep Naruto and the one performing the extraction as close as possible."

"We've wasted enough time already, we should move." He paused to turn to Temari, "Wait here. In case they try to escape and come in this direction."

Temari wanted to argue, but knew better than to disagree with her brother.

With that, the ninjas jumped into the trees, Kakashi in front, knowing exactly who he wanted to have a chat with.

_---Naruto---_

Naruto yawned from his current position. He was currently inside of his own mind, right outside the cage of the Kyuubi. After about a day of the constant torture of the seal, Naruto passed out, and was pulled into his mind. He'd spent the next day trying to figure a way out of this. Unfortunately neither he, nor the fox, could find a damn thing to do about this whole situation.

So he finally gave up again. He truly never wanted to give up again, but once again he was trapped and he couldn't find a way to get himself out of this situation. The last time he was trapped, the Third had concocted a plan to help him. Unfortunately the Third couldn't save him this time. He was trapped, and this time he had no way of getting himself out.

So he just decided to just lay down, at the edge of the fox's cage, and wait it out.

Multiple thoughts kept flashing through his head as he was just lying there.

He'd never get to see Iruka again, one of the men he would always consider an older brother.

Sakura…though at first he couldn't stand to be around her, she'd grown on him.

Kakashi and Yamato…one a masked pervert, the other an annoying ANBU

Tsunade and Shizune…though he had only known the two for only a short amount of time…

Jiraiya…though he would slit his own throat before admitting it to anyone.

Sasuke…the one he regrettably let free.

Rei…his best friend. The first to except him as a human.

Gaara…though they never spent much time together, there weren't many people who knew Naruto more.

Haku…

Naruto eyes snapped open, "Damn it all…" cursed the blonde. No matter how much he tried to keep people away, he failed considerably, "How did you people get into my heart?" muttered/asked the confused blonde. At this point he started laughing to himself. 'I've really grown to soft…'

** "Hey Brat!"**

At that point Naruto stopped laughing and turned to look at the fox. The fox Yokai was a shell of his former self. He was much smaller than before, roughly about the size of a one-story house. However, the most notable difference was the fact that he only had two tails; one of them being much smaller than the other. The extraction process had taken almost all of the Kyuubi's chakra, and this was the result. "What?"

The giant fox smiled down at the boy, showing his still sharp teeth, **"You know, I've been thinking about this for a while now. If your old man had been thinking differently at the time, I could've ended up inside of your sister."**

At that point Naruto started laughing out loud. "Kami, how is it that every single sensei and mentor I've ever had turns out to be a pervert…"

The fox cocked his eyebrow up, rethinking his sentence, before growling,** "You idiot! I meant I could've been sealed inside of her instead…though the former doesn't sound so bad…"**

"HAHAHA!" At this point Naruto was cracking up at well. "I don't know whether I'm going crazy from the extraction process, or if Ero-Sennin is rubbing off on me, but you actually managed to make me feel better."

The fox grinned at that, **"HA! I was also thinking, if I had gotten to Konaha a few weeks later or a few weeks earlier, I could've ended up being SEALED in somebody else."**

Naruto grinned at that, "What if you would've ended up sealed up inside of Shikamaru or how about inside of Lee."

**"Haha! Probably would've spent hours of the day trying to get him off his ass. As for Lee, don't even joke about that, I'd probably find some way to get the kid to slit his own throat, just so I wouldn't have to deal with his obnoxious behavior."**

"Hahahahaha!" At this point the boy was holding his sides trying to keep from laughing.

The fox grinned at the boy's antics, **"What I'm trying to say is…out of all the little bastards I could've ended up in, I suppose your not the worse person."**

Naruto grinned, this time a real smile, "Yea, and since I know you can't talk to anyone else, I might as well say that your not the worse person/demon I could've ended up with."

With that the two of them shifted into a comfortable silence

_---Kakashi's team---_

Kakashi growled as he launched himself out of the tree, and into an ALMOST empty clearing.

Kakashi glared at the two figures in front of him. The first figure was the one and only villain of the Uchiha Massacre, Uchiha Itachi. The second figure was Hoshigaki Kisame.

Kakashi felt, Gaara, Haku, Neji, and Lee land behind him, as he continued to stare directly at Itachi.

Itachi glanced in Gaara's direction, "Gaara-kun…Good, you saved us the trouble of having to come get you later."

Kisame smirked, "We're almost done with the blonde brat, so just stick around and wait your turn."

"It's not going to happen, I won't let it", declared the copy ninja as he got into a Taijutsu stance.

Itachi merely stared at him as he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan. Making sure the copy ninja was staring directly into his eyes, he did a quick handseal, "Tsukuyomi…" muttered the Uchiha. A moment passed before Itachi's eyes widened at the lack of effect of his Tsukuyomi.

Though no one saw it, Kakashi smirked under his mask, "Hmmm did you just waste a lot of chakra trying to get me into a Tsukuyomi?" Kakashi reached for his Hitai-ate and started lifting it up, "That's just so sad!" He revealed his left eye…

Itachi cocked an eyebrow, "Mangekyo. Hmmm yours is different from mine."

Kakashi didn't bat an eye. It was true, while Itachi's eye looked more like a Tomoe. Kakashi's eye looked more like a pinwheel. "It's the fruit of actually training your Sharingan, instead of merely killing one's best friend."

Itachi didn't seem fazed by the accusation, "I'm curious to know if it can hold out to mine."

Rock Lee pointed directly at Itachi, "You might as well surrender now, our youth shall prevail, Uchiha!"

Itachi just stared at him, "Irritating little worm. I think I'll squash you first." At that point Itachi launched himself at both Kakashi and Rock Lee.

_---Haku and Neji---_

Haku stared indifferently at Kisame.

Kisame smirked at Haku, "Now I recognize you…you're Zabuza's little lap dog."

Haku shook her head, "Not anymore…Zabuza-sama has fallen in battle."

Kisame smirked again, "Figures…I knew someone would eventually bring that weakling down."

Haku glared at him, "Funny, I was just about to say the same thing about you, fish-face", Haku muttered as she grabbed some of her senbon needles.

Kisame glared at her as he grab his sword, flicking the bandages off of it at the same time, "Kid's these days and their smart ass mouths." He muttered under his breath.

Neji got into his Jyuuken stance, standing right next to Haku, "Don't let him agitate you."

Haku nodded.

_---Gaara---_

Gaara quietly slipped away from the battlefield. Heading towards the cave. The only reason he even showed himself to Itachi and Kisame, was because he knew that the two of them sensed his demonic chakra. Kakashi had instructed him to find some way out of the battlefield to assist Naruto. Itachi and Kisame were probably assuming that Gaara would be kept busy with Sasori. What neither of them knew, which they probably over looked due to their overconfidence, was the fact that Rin, Chiyo, Sakura, Yukina, and Rei were all hiding from the group, still in the trees.

Gaara continued to rush to the cave to see Chiyo and Sakura facing off against Sasori. 'Even though I would love nothing more than to crush him for what he did to Kankuro, I better go assist the others.' Gaara continued to the opening of the cave where he saw Rin, Rei, and Yukina standing.

"What is the situation?" he asked the Rin, "Can the seal be dispelled?"

Rin nodded, "It's a five seal barrier. A strong one at that. I already explained the process to the girls, so please allow us to handle this Gaara-sama."

Gaara nodded as the three of them jumped off.

_---Rin, Yukina, and Rei---_

The three woman continued to dash through the trees, "Ok so we'll find the seals and I'll leave a **Kage Bunshin** at each one. We'll have too disarm them at the exact same time."

The two girls nodded as they continued to follow the older woman.

Rin eyes widened slightly as she was forced to stop at the tree branch that she was standing on. Yukina and Rei followed suit, just behind Rin.

Standing in front of them, in a nearby tree branch was a cloaked figure. He had spiky black hair, however a masked covered his entire face. The masked itself looked very odd. Half of it was completely black, while the other half was an orange spiral. He wore a pure black cloak, covering most of his body.

"Greetings ladies. Fine day to be jumping through trees, looking for barrier seals isn't it?" asked the man in the masked.

The question itself had Rin cocking her eyebrow up to see if she heard him right, Rei and Yukina were in a similar state of mind. Rin glared at him, "Who are you?"

"My name is…" he began…before pumping his fist into the air, "TOBI!" Once again sending the three kunoichi in a confused state of mind.

Yukina looked at him with something between confusion and disgust, "What is with this man?", she asked, obviously/momentarily forgetting about her two teammates, the Green Beasts of Konaha.

Rin glared at him once again, "Are you a member of Akatsuki?" She asked taking out a kunai.

"Maaaaaaaaaaybe…"

At that point Rei sweatdropped, as she unsheathed her sword, "What's your deal?"

His attitude had Rin snarling, "I don't know who you are, but GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!"

_---Naruto---_

"Almost done now…" grinned the blonde member of Akatsuki.

Naruto, who had been banished from the chamber inside of his mind for about an hour now, could only stare up at cave ceiling through glossy eyes as Deidare continued to drain the demon out of Naruto. Naruto could faintly see the red chakra, which is associated with his Biju, flowing out of the seal on his stomach, and flowing straight towards the statue behind his head.

At this point, the boy felt like his head was spinning so fast that he could barely notice the pain from the extraction process.

With every second that passed he could feel more and more of the Kyuubi's presence fade away.

"Almost done!" laughed the almost crazed Akatsuki member.

'Almost done, it's almost over…' thought Naruto as he tried to blink the drowsiness out of his eyes…

** "Idiot! Don't fall asleep!"** screamed the fox. The boy could barely hear the screams of the fox. As the demon's voice faded into utter silence. The boy cracked a smile.

"Stupid fox…" the boy muttered, as he shut his eyes.

Deidara grinned to himself, as he looked up, to see a red stream chakra.

_---Outside of the Cave---_

Gaara looked directly at the cave. He could still feel the Fox's chakra, but he couldn't, "…I can't feel Naruto's life-force anymore…"

Gaara glared in the direction of the cave. 'No time to waste.'

He started to gather all the chakra he could muster up from his chakra coils. After a few moments he started to muster up all the chakra that he could gather…straight from the seal on his naval.

**"What the hell! What the hell do you think your doing you red haired punk! You shouldn't be able to draw on my chakra like that!"**

'Like it or not…I require your assistance.' At this point, Gaara's eyes turned yellow and his pupil turned into a diamond. 'You need me to stay alive or you'll be forced to go to the underworld.' Four black dots formed in his eyes, one on each side of the pupil. 'So now…you WILL help me fight…not just take temporary control of my body…' At this point yellow chakra started to surge out of the seal, and started to crackle around the Kazekage.

At this point Shukaku was speechless to say the least. **"Like hell I'll do as you command brat!"** Though he didn't sound nearly as serious as he would've liked to… **'How the hell is he drawing on my chakra without my consent!'**

'I've been training myself…Without your knowledge. I can see it now…why you kept all your power for yourself all this time…why you only offered this power to me while I was asleep and you were in control of my body. This power…it's so intoxicating…'

At this point the Tanuki started to get nervous, **"All this to help some little BRAT?"**

At this point Gaara actually cracked a smile, and for once spoke, "Partially, but not completely. For the good of MY village, Akatsuki must be defeated." At this point Gaara's canines lengthened. Finally from his gourd, a long tail formed, which was at least twice Gaara's size. "I am the Kazekage! And I will defend my HOME AND PEOPLE!" At this point the chakra started to surge out of him.

_---Somewhere on the edge of Wind Country---_

Temari could only stare in shock as a giant surge of yellow chakra exploded out of the ground and formed a Tanuki.

'Gaara…'

_---Inside the Cave---_

The blonde member of Akatsuki turned towards the opening of the cave. Ignoring the still floating spirit of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and the dieing blonde. A moment ago the barrier was broken by an explosion of chakra.

Deidara opened his clay pouch and created a few clay birds. He continued to stand their as a figure started to walk through the opening.

Deidara smirked at what he saw, "Sabaku no Gaara."

_---Naruto---_

Naruto didn't know where he was.

He was standing in an entirely white space.

'Where am I?'

He couldn't feel a thing. His body, his chakra, the fox. Nothing.

'Am I dead?'

He tried to walk around, but he wasn't moving.

'Kyuubi?'

He kept looking around…nothing but white space.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I!" he yelled…but the words never came out. It was deafening.

That's when he felt something on his shoulder. He quickly turned to see an hand on his shoulder. He followed the hand to its owner.

"Old man?" Naruto's eyes snapped wide in surprise when he noticed that he actually heard his own voice. Seeing the man grin behind him, broke him out of his trance, "Is that really you?"

Sarutobi smiled warmly at the boy. Naruto was mesmerized. He had always known the Third Hokage for being old…but this man couldn't be older than thirty, though he was still wearing his Hokage robes and hat. "I'm not that old…am I?"

Naruto just continued staring at him, "Where am I?"

Sarutobi looked grim for a moment, "Your dieing Naruto…"

At those words, Naruto's face fell, "That's right…I guess they finished the extraction process…"

Sarutobi smiled slightly as he gestured his head, to something behind him.

Naruto followed the gesture and he saw two of the last people he wanted to see…

Standing behind the Third Hokage, with grim smiles on their faces, were the Fourth Hokage, and a former ANBU captain.

After a moment of shock, Naruto slip on his mask again, "Hello father…mother…"

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**A/N: And let the death threats come in for leaving it at another cliff hanger. Hides behind a tied up Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Rock Lee.  
**

**Anyway...when i did that whole rate Naruto's moves thing...i forgot to mention that I still had TWO jutsu that I still haven't shown. So look forward to those two next chapter, one of them for sure.**

** Anyway...i hope you liked the chapter...i hope it was worth the wait...**

** Let me know what you thought about it. REVIEW  
**

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	17. Unleash the Rasen Shikyo Shushi

** Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto or a certain anime. FYI, i couldn't resist throwing in a Family Guy joke in here.**

**AN: For those of you who remember, I mentioned Naruto's personality was inspired by one of my favorite characters of an anime I watched. I finally get to give Naruto an ability I had intended to give him from the start of the Fanfiction, but decided to give it to him later, nows that later. For those of you who guess the anime and the character, you get a cookie _Disclaimor: You will not actually receive a cookie._**

**Anyway, i decided to add in a jutsu list for Naruto in the end of this chapter, so those of you who are confused, look forward to that.**

**I have two warnings: The first is that I'm moving this up to a 'M' Rating, though i don't think i actually need it.**

**The second is that, i felt bad about leaving you guys on such a horrible cliff hanger, that i decided not too do that again...technically speaking. So instead i just decided to with-hold three pieces of information from this chapter, (that a lot of you will find a lot worse).**

**Anyway, on with the show. (this is my largest chapter yet.)  
**

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**Chapter 17: Deceptions, Unleash the**** Rasen Shikyo Shushi**

_---Kakashi and Lee vs Itachi---_

Kakashi and Itachi both faced off against each other, with Lee a few steps behind Kakashi.

Itachi…looked almost curious at the returning ANBU captain, almost curious. Kakashi didn't bat an eye, yet he knew exactly what the S-class missing-nin wanted, 'He's curious to the powers of my **Mangekyo Sharingan**. Hmmm, well maybe I should give him what he wants.'

The Uchiha quickly launched himself at the two leaf-nin. He quickly, threw a quick kick to Kakashi, which the copy-nin struggled to block. He quickly ducked under a kick sent to him by Lee, and quickly countered by throwing three kunai at the boy. Lee quickly pulled out his own kunai, and blocked every projectile.

Kakashi was vaguely surprised when he found the boy able to keep up with the speed of the Uchiha. That's when he realized two things, the first was that Lee didn't have his weights on and the second was that the boy had already opened the **First Gate (Initial Gate).** He could see that Lee was not looking in Itachi's eyes, a clear sign of Gai's training.

Kakashi glared back at Itachi and launched himself at the man. The three ninjas started interchanging blow after blow.

Itachi was nimbly dodging or blocking every blow sent his way, yet that's all he was able to do, with the combined efforts of both Lee and Kakashi attacking him, he'd need to even out the playing field. He quickly blocked one of Lee's kicks before spinning him around and throwing the boy in Kakashi's direction.

Thinking quickly, Kakashi grabbed on to the boy, skidding backwards a few feet, before tossing him, lightly, to the ground behind him. 'Sorry Lee…'

Said boy, quickly jumped back up to his feet, instantly ready to fight once more.

Itachi looked at the boy with a monotone gaze, as Kakashi glared at him. Itachi raised his hand and pointed at Rock Lee…that was all that it took.

Lee's eyes widened as Itachi's **Genjutsu** took effect. Kakashi's eyes widened as he was about to release the Jutsu, but was halted when Itachi came to attack him. Kakashi quickly blocked Itachi, before doing the necessary one handed seal, "**Kage Bunshin!"**

Two shadow clones appeared right next to Kakashi, who quickly resumed fighting Itachi. One of the Shadow Clones grabbed Lee and ran as fast as it could, the other engaged Itachi along with Kakashi. 'Damn it all, I never thought I would actually wish for Sasuke's assistance with Itachi, I _need_ to get to Naruto!'

_---Haku and Neji vs Kisame---_

Kisame and Haku were both glaring at each other, something that seemed out of character for the overconfident missing-nin and even more abnormal for the normally stoic girl. What needed to be said had been said between the two former mist-nins.

Neji, who was about five meters to the right of Haku, with his Byakkugan blazing, stared at the two with slight interest. He was well aware of the power that the young woman possessed; his former kunoichi teammate being rather close to the slightly older woman. He wasn't two impressed with the fact that she was already an ANBU, he was well aware of the fact that he would too be asked to join their ranks. Her mask was on the side of her face, revealing her face and glaring eyes. The Akatsuki member was a complete mystery. The only thing he had to go on was rumors that he had heard from Hiashi-sama, and his old sensei, who seemed to have some experience with the shark-like man. The thing that worried him most was the sword that he possessed, which was currently on his back. Neji narrowed his eyes as he was forced to admit something to himself that he rarely was forced to, 'I'm outclassed…'

Suddenly both water-nin quickly started doing handseals, and at the very same time they both called out, "**Suiton: Bakusui Shōha (Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave)!**" They both opened their mouths and spat up a torrent of water.

Neji's eyes widened in intrigue and somewhat in disgust as the water seemed to keep coming from the two nin, already engulfing the small clearing that they were in, the water reached up his ankles. For fear of being engulfed he quickly jumped out of the water into a nearby tree. Good thing too, the water would have engulfed him completely and he didn't feel the need to waste chakra until necessary. He continued to watch Haku and Kisame, who were now standing on the water. Neither seemed at all winded by the jutsu they had initiated only seconds ago.

Haku quickly started doing another set of handseals. She finished them in only a few moments, 27 seals total, "**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Blast Technique)**" A water dragon quickly erupted out of the water behind Haku and quickly went straight towards Kisame.

The **Kaijin no Kirigakure (Scourge of Hidden Mist)** merely smiled as he grabbed his **Samehada**. Just as the blast would have engulfed him, he quickly spun to the side and smashed his sword against the water dragon, letting the sword _devour_ the chakra that remained in the water dragon, and making said attack helpless. He grinned at the girl in front of him as he put his sword back on his back. "Not bad. You used an attack that normally requires 54 seals, with only 27." Noticing that Haku was now staring at him with no emotion on her face he continued, "You truly are a prodigy with water, BUT STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Kisame flashed through 19 seals before calling out, "**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!**" A water dragon, much larger than Haku's, exploded out of the water behind Kisame, however he vaguely noticed that Haku was doing a set of unfamiliar hand seals, thirty total.

"**Hyōton: Haryū Mōko (Ice Release: Piercing Dragon Fierce Tiger)**", another explosion of water erupted from behind Haku, and took the form of a dragon, however this one quickly crystallized into a dragon of ice.

Neji watched as both dragons clashed with each other, the ice dragon clearly being dominate as it cut through the larger dragon with ease, heading straight for it's opponent's master. Kisame grinned as the dragon slammed into him, smashing him through the surface of the water, as the dragon also submerged.

Haku's eyes narrowed as she fixed her masked, so it was completely covering her face, 'I've been fighting a **Mizu Bunshin**…' She quickly looked down before jumping high into the air, barely avoiding the hand that came up too pull her under. Haku saw three shurikan erupt out of the water, coming straight at her. Thinking quickly she pulled three senbon needles from her belt and let them sail out of her hand, easily deflecting the shurikan. She then quickly twisted herself in the air, and landed on the water with the grace of a cat.

She saw Kisame emerge from the spot that he had attempted to grab her. He was now staring at her with a feral grin. "Interesting, usually I take great pride in shredding and _shaving_ my opponents to pieces and yet, I can't help but feel the need to hold your head underwater until you drown…"

Haku wasn't fazed by his words, "You were always the most unstable member of the **Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (****Seven Swordsmen of the Mist)**." She quickly pulled out five more senbon needles, and quickly threw them at Kisame, doing one-handed seals at the same time.

_---Naruto---_

Naruto stood their, in front of three people; one of which he though he'd never see again, and the other two who he hoped he'd never see at all. He moved past the third hokage, who was now a man of no older than thirty. He started walking to the them, and after a few moments the Fourth let go of his wife and walked forward as well. Within a few moments they were now face to face.

Sarutobi edged backwards a bit, subconsciously wanting to give the three a little privacy, but at the same time knowing that he needed to stay close.

Naruto looked up at the man that he had come to hate for many years now, silently hating the fact that he was still much taller. Arashi continued to look down at the boy with a grim smile on his face.

It seemed like an eternity that the two were standing there.

He went over his options. He could **A.** take out all his frustration out on the two people that he truly hated, _Physically_, or **B.** Try to ignore them both with a mask of sarcasm, and hoped he'd be sent to heaven…hell…whichever one these two people didn't occupy.

Naruto started looking around the endless void. He really wanted to do letter **A**, but two things stopped him. **1. **He was currently having trouble concentrating his chakra, which is where most of his, non-demonic, strength was, **2.** He couldn't access the demon chakra, **3. **he honestly didn't believe he could match the two of them with his current level of Taijutsu and no sword, though he'd be damned if he would **EVER **admit that little fact to **ANYONE** with the ability to talk, hear, write, and/or think, and finally **4. , **(The most important reason of all), he really wasn't in the mood for a fight, slightly surprised that his anger hadn't give him the will to do so. So his lazy side won out in the end, like it did in many occasions which weren't life threatening, after all he was already dead…right?

"Hmmmm…no place for me to sit…that's kind of depressing…"

Arashi just raised an eyebrow questioningly before settling down in a small smile, "You've really grown tall in the last…fifteen years…"

Naruto sighed as he put on his 'mask' of happiness, "You probably wouldn't be so surprised if you had been around…", Arashi, and even Sarutobi, flinched at that. "I'm not really in the mood for small talk, so if you have something to say, get to it."

Arashi once again flinched at the coldness in his voice, 'Old man was right, he has one freaky smile', "Naruto…I'm so sorry for everything you have went through." The blonde Hokage sighed to himself before continuing, "But, I didn't have another choice! It was the only way to stop the Nine-tailed demon fox that was attacking our village!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at him, "Attacking the village? I don't know…according to the fox, it went slightly different."

Arashi raised an eyebrow questioningly. Naruto, still smiling, proceeded to tell Arashi the Kyuubi's **HEAVILY** edited version of what happened fifteen years ago. Naruto never noticed how good of a liar he was, because as he was telling the man this story, Arashi's eyes continued to widen in shock. The young boy was surprised that the older blonde never interrupted him.

Arashi was absolutely shocked by the time the boy was finished, "Naruto you can't trust the demon fox! He's telling you lies!"

Naruto shrugged off his mask and replaced it with a monotone face, "Is this why you chose me? Because you think I'm an idiot!" Arashi flinched slightly as the cold edge was still in his voice. "Do you really think so little of me, that you believe that I would even consider for a second, that the fox's story was true."

After a moment Arashi started to look sheepish as he rubbed his head, "I'll tell you one thing kid, you got the deception part of being a ninja down."

Naruto glared at him, "I've been lied to for most of my life, it was kind of easy to pick up…"

Arashi sighed as he turned away, "I didn't know what else to do. All I could do was seal it into a newborn baby. I couldn't ask another parent to give up their children, so my only choice was to seal it into either Yukina, or you." Arashi sighed to himself, "I did everything within my power to save the village, as well as your mother, your sister, and of course you. Even with all my knowledge, all my training, I couldn't save your mother from her…untimely death, and I couldn't spare you the years of hatred that you experienced." At this point Arashi clenched his eyes shut, "I gave the village everything I had, and…and in the end I even sacrificed you for them. M-m-my…last request was for you to be seen as a hero, not to be seen as the damn demon…" Arashi opened his eyes and stared upwards, into the endless void, "I always had such fond memories of the village, so I thought they would honor my request. I thought you would have such fond memories, even if you would have to deal with living with the Kyuubi no Kitsune, for a while until the seal absorbed it…"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, but only for a moment, 'The seal is going to absorb the fox?'

"…It's the only reason I could rest in peace all these years, thinking that the village would take care of you; hoping beyond all odds, at least in my head, that you wouldn't end up a spoiled brat." At this point, Arashi looked straight at the boy. "When Sarutobi-sensei appeared, and told me the truth, it was one of the biggest shocks of my life, or afterlife might be a better term." Now Arashi was looking downwards, "The only other thing that even came close was when I discovered that Obito wasn't on this side…" he muttered, barely above a whisper

"Huh?"

Arashi looked back up to Naruto, realizing that he was getting off topic. "My dream, was for you to absorb the fox's power and protect the village. That is what I was hoping for…"

Naruto clenched his eyes shut, and even produced a smile, "Your making it a little too hard to hate you…though maybe I never had the right to do so in the first place. In the end, like you said, it was either Yukina or myself. If you hadn't had done what you done, I probably would have been long dead, with the village."

Arashi smiled lightly.

Naruto, on the other hand, stopped smiling, and with a steady voice said, "However, don't think for even a second that I'll become the guardian of the Konaha. You may have given up your life to save that place, but don't think for even a second that I would do the same. I may have been born there, but that place is NOT my home."

Arashi sighed and looked down. He didn't even notice when Naruto walked pass him, and flinched when he did realize it. Arashi turned to see Naruto, glaring at the woman in front of him. Arashi's eyes glanced over Kizuna, noticing that she was shaking somewhat, and she seemed to be hyperventilating. She was scared and nervous, something that was indeed alien to the strong woman, who was renowned for being an ANBU captain.

Naruto glared at the woman in front of him.

She just stared back at him, teary eyed, "Naruto…"

Naruto's glare intensified, "You…are even worst than those bastards I had to deal with EVERY DAY!" Arashi flinched at that comment, as did Sarutobi.

Kizuna opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words.

"Why did you leave me alone to ROT for all those years? Why did you have to leave me alone? WHY THE HELL DID YOU BETRAY ME?" at this point the boy had tears in his eyes, and they were steadily streaming down his face.

Kizuna once again opened her mouth…but still couldn't find the words…

Arashi walked up to them, and stood a few steps behind Naruto, "Kizuna! Talk to him! Tell him the _truth_!"

"Yes…tell me…tell me why?" muttered the blonde, finding the strength of mind to calm his voice, though he was still glaring at her.

"I…I…Na…" she began.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he feel something wrong with his 'body'.

_---Gaara---_

Deidara glared at Gaara. Gaara continued to walk forward, barely noticing Deidara's presence. He finally stopped, ten meters away from Deidara and Naruto, and fifteen meters away from a strange statue.

He could clearly see Deidara speaking, but frankly, he didn't really give a damn.

**"Geez…punk I didn't know you had it in you. Perhaps I have underestimated you all these years. Hmmmm"**, thought a certain Tanuki.

Gaara made no indication that he had heard anything; he just raised his hand and started gathering sand to it, until he created a small sphere of sand.

Deidara tensed up as he created two birds out of clay.

The Kazekage didn't even flinched as he let the ball of sand fly, going straight towards Deidara.

The Akatsuki member let his birds fly, going straight for the ball. It looked like the two attacks would make contact when the unthinkable happened. The ball changed its trajectory at the last moment, just barely missing the two birds.

Deidara's eyes widened as the ball nearly hit him in the head; the fact that he nearly was beamed wasn't what scared him. Deidara was severely surprised when the ball missed the birds and that combined with the actual speed of the sphere, was too much for the blonde to react in time. He flinched at the impact, as he turned to look at the statue, and the new gaping hole right through it.

BOOM

He quickly turned back to the red headed demon container. Gaara's shield of sand protected him from the two clay birds, easily..

CRACK

Deidara once again shifted his eyes, still keeping his gaze partially on the Kazekage, to the statue, which was currently cracking. Deidara felt the urge to cry at all the hard work he lost, 'That stupid thing is suppose to hold the power of a demon, and it can't even take a little hit like that.' It took only a few moments before the thing literally fell to pieces.

And with its destruction came an explosion of Red Chakra…without the extraction statue, or a corporal form, it only had one place to go…

_---Naruto---_

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out of his mouth. He started looking around nervously, noticing that the image of Arashi, Kizuna, and Sarutobi were beginning to blur. His eyes widened somewhat when he saw that Arashi was speaking to Kizuna, he couldn't hear obviously. 'What the hell is going on…'

"_**You're returning to the world of the living…"**_

Naruto's eyes widened at the sound of the voice and saw a white robed figured hovering in the air. 'Who the hell?'

"_**I'm the Shinigami."**_

Naruto's eyes widened somewhat. He opened his mouth, but cursed mentally when he realized that he still couldn't speak. 'Seems to be able to read my thoughts. Let me see…you're a stupid retard!' One second later Naruto found himself kissing the ground, which still looked like an endless void.

**_"Watch your tongue child, I have killed people for far less…"_**

Naruto stood up, noticing that Arashi had kneeled beside him, when the Shinigami had smashed him into the 'ground'. Naruto glared at the robed figure, causing the others to follow his gaze.

"Shinigami-sama?" Arashi said, not knowing that Naruto still couldn't hear a word that he was saying.

The Shinigami was still staring at Naruto. _**"Someone is calling you back from this realm."**_

Naruto's eyes widened, 'But I thought I was dead?'

The Shinigami shook his head, _**"You were on the verge of death, a few more moments, and it would have been so, however, someone is saving you."**_

Arashi, Kizuna, and Sarutobi all looked at the Shinigami, listening to every word he spoke with a mixture of anxiety, happiness, and some sorrow; whilst he continued his conversation with Naruto. Naruto smirked, 'There are only two people with that kind of power, and since one of them is stuck in Konaha, that only leaves that damn fox…' Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he felt, and saw, himself starting to fade away.

Arashi quickly turned back to his wife, "KIZUNA!"

Kizuna clenched her eyes shut for a moment, before staring straight at Naruto and grasping his shoulders whilst shaking him, tears streaming down her face, "NARUTO I NEVER WANTED TO LEAVE YOU ALL ALONE! I NEVER WROTE THAT LETTER, NOR DID I EVER SPEAK WITH FATHER OR MOTHER!"

Naruto glared at the woman with a cold look of disgust, the last thing he saw before he disappeared, never hearing the message she attempted to give him.

After seeing him disappeared, the woman broke down, collapsing to her knees, and wailing into her hands. Arashi quickly ran to the woman, holding her in his arms.

"Kizuna…"

"I couldn't speak…I just froze…I COULDN'T EVEN TALK TO HIM!!!"

Sarutobi sighed to himself, deep down knowing that Naruto never heard a single thing. 'What a mess I let things become…why couldn't I have seen the truth sooner…' He turned towards Kizuna, feeling the urge to break down himself, at seeing the woman. He then turned towards a random direction, hoping to be glaring at Konaha, thinking of one man and one man alone, his old rival, 'What have you done...'

_---In the Cave---_

Deidara flinched as the whole cave became engulfed with demonic chakra.

Gaara didn't even budge as he felt the youki attempt to push him backwards, out of the cave.

_---Outside the cave---_

Sasori could only stare at the mutilated bodies of his mother and father, though he didn't see puppets. He saw the one thing he, and most other children in a position like his own, craved more than any other thing; a sign of affection.

In his minds eye, he could see the two people he still loved, soaring towards him about to embrace him. 'Mother…father…'

BOOM

Out of his peripheral vision, he could see red chakra, lot's of it…within seconds he could see it take the form of the Nine-tails… He quickly returned his attention to his parents, but didn't see what he saw before. He could only see two puppets, each with blades attached to their hands.

He quickly jumped backwards, barely escaping the two dolls, landing on a tree, he quickly glared at both the pink haired kunoichi and the old woman, before turning and disappearing.

Sakura sighed, falling to her feet, looking at the direction of the red chakra. Chiyo gave one last glare at Sasori, knowing that she had lost her chance. She quickly looked at the two puppets in front of her. She walked forward about to seal them up before she paused. At the last second she drew five kunai and threw them at the two puppets. Upon contact, they blew up, destroying the two puppets; finally ending the crime against her daughter and son-in-law. She quickly took a quick look at the cave, before running towards Sakura, grabbing the girl, and disappearing.

_---On the Lake---_

On the artificial lake, Kisame stood, his sword fully revealed, barely panting. Haku stood, panting, heavily. Neji was a good distance away, panting heavily as well, after a failed surprise attack. The one thing they all had in common, was the thought running through all their minds, 'Oh shit…'

_---In the clearing---_

Itachi and Kakashi had stopped their brawl to watch the large Kyuubi, both slightly fearful at what this could mean.

Lee, still recovering from the genjutsu, could only watch in amazement, "Naruto…"

_---In the forest---_

In the forest stood Rei, Yukina, and Rin as they looked in the direction of the Kyuubi. Rin, gulped somewhat, remembering it very well. Yukina, was surprised that what she felt was not anger, but fear, unconditional fear had spread through her, 'How can Naruto hold that thing back…'

Rei looked concerned for her part, but chose not to reveal that fact in front of the _fool_ as she had dubbed him.

Said man was currently in some ridiculous pose, looking straight at the Kyuubi as well. He then turned back to the ladies, "My ladies, as much as I would love too stay and continue our little work out, I just remembered…there's this little old lady that I have to help cross a very busy street, she's expecting me soon. So…until the next time I am graced with your beauty…"

With that, he disappeared.

Rei and Yukina both sweatdropped at the excuse, as they both sheathed their weapons. Yukina glared in the direction he was just in, "Fight? He was just running around like a fool…"

Rei nodded, slightly flustered, "It's strange…he seemed to know exactly how we would attack before we did, he even canceled our **Genjutsus**."

Rin made sure to think more about this enigma later, as she dashed off in Naruto's direction.

_---Naruto's Mindscape---_

Naruto found himself in front of a very familiar cage. The fox was their, though the blonde didn't seem to notice that the fox was looking somewhat smaller, and weaker.

The boy didn't notice a thing though. Naruto sighed to himself, somewhat contently, 'Funny…she practically leaves me to die…and she doesn't even say a single damn thing. At least…the fourth, tries to apologize…'

**"BRAT!"**

Naruto's eyes widened when he noticed that he had been ignoring the fox.

**"What the hell is wrong with you? You'd think you'd show a little gratitude"**, scoffed the fox.

Naruto, still only half paying attention, replied, "It's funny, for the first time in years, I feel a strange sense of satisfaction, yet a part of me feels like I earned a one-way ticket to hell…"

The Kyuubi blinked, **"What? You've only been gone for about a minute brat! What the hell did you do, flick off the Shinigami?"**

Naruto shrugged, "I called him a retard actually, but that's not really important", muttered the blonde who finally took the time to look at the fox, "Did you cut off your own tails?"

The fox's eye twitched, **"WHY THE HELL WOULD I CUT OFF MY OWN TAILS?"**

Naruto shrugged, "Well then what the hell is wrong with you?"

The fox sighed**, "Thanks to Shukaku's container, the totem that I was sealed into was destroyed, afterwards the seal on your stomach reabsorbed me; I suppose the two of us were still connected somewhat. Afterwards, my chakra started healing your body."**

Naruto blinked, "Wow, I wouldn't have guessed that Gaara would have come to save me…who knew."

**"I wasn't finished!"** the fox snapped, **"The seal on your stomach was damaged. Originally, the seal was designed to automatically absorb my spirit and chakra, trapping the two within the seal; that is what happened fifteen years ago. However the part of the seal that automatically absorbed my chakra was damaged, so it's all still streaming through your chakra coils."**

Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his head, "WHAT!" He started feeling around his face, noticing that his whisker-marks were more distinct. He felt his canines, noticing that they were longer. He finally noticed that his nails were grown out, into claws. "HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE! HOW CAN I EVEN BE STILL ALIVE!"

The fox shrugged, **"All of my chakra pulsing through your coils at the same time, is rupturing your chakra coils; such a thing WILL kill you. The only reason you're still alive is because at the very same time, my chakra is healing you."** The fox quickly paused to think about something, **'Hmmm, all this crap is probably going to lower his life span…better look into that later…probably shouldn't worry him about that right now…'**

"Wait…Whether or not I'm in your cage, I usually start losing my mind, as if I'm starting to become an animal or something. But I feel completely normal right now, why is that?"

The fox shrugged**, "Don't know…"**

Naruto sighed to himself, then adopted a thoughtful look, "I don't feel any stronger either…usually I would feel stronger and faster. Why aren't I feeling that way now?"

He shrugged again, **"No clue…"**

Naruto slapped his forehead, before glaring at the fox, "Well…What the hell do you know?"

The demon started chuckling somewhat, **"Funny you should ask. I need to find a way to absorb at least five of my tails back…and I only got about ten minutes to do it."**

Naruto's eyes widened as he was banished from his mindscape.

_---Naruto---_

Naruto slowly rose to his feet. The first thing his mind registered was the fact that, he didn't feel like he super strong, or fast. The second thing he registered was that the red chakra wasn't exploding around him, though out of his peripheral vision, he did notice something swinging behind him. If he would have looked behind him, he would have found nine large red tails made completely out of chakra, each tail being at least as long as Naruto is tall. Finally, he noticed the two figures in front of him. One slightly scared Akatsuki member and one very happy Kazekage. 'Funny…I didn't think Gaara could do 'happy'.'

**"Focus you idiot!"**

Naruto narrowed his eyes, 'That's right, I got to get rid of some of this chakra. Should be simple, though I'll have to seriously drop my chakra control.' He looked passed the Akatsuki member, and directly towards Gaara, "Gaara, I don't have the time to explain why, but I need you to let me handle this."

Gaara, in a monotone voice, merely stated, "If I see him getting away, I will step in…" and with that said, he disappeared in a swirl of sand.

Naruto looked directly at Deidara, 'This guy may have his clay, but he's not that much faster than I am.' The clenched his eyes shut, hiding them with his bangs at the same time.

And then he did something that he rarely ever did, he allowed himself to remember the past…

"_Demon brat!"_

Every dirty look…

"_Bastard child, why don't you do us all a favor and just die!"_

Every glare…

"_How could they allow that thing to live with us, after all it's done!"_

Every whisper…

"_IT should have been killed the moment it was transformed into a child!"_

Every insult…

"_How could they allow that thing to become a ninja! He'll be the end of us all!"_

Everything…

"The Nine-tailed fox! The KYUUBI! It's inside of YOU! YOU ARE THE NINE-TAILED FOX!"

As if it happened merely a few seconds ago…

Deidara, shivered slightly as he felt a large wave of killer intent coming from the boy in front of him. He began to create even more birds out of clay, 'With the Kazekage gone, I still have a chance to apprehend the Nine-tails!"

"I was saving this technique for an old friend of mine, but I guess I can test it out on you." Then, Naruto did the last thing anyone ever expected of him, he looked up towards Deidara and smiled warmly.

Deidara's eyes widened as he saw the boy's face. He couldn't see any anger, fear, resentment, or anything else from Naruto.

"Oh! And if you want my opinion, art is something that last a long time, hence my plants!" In a flash, Naruto started doing handseals, "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan no jutsu!"**

Deidara didn't even noticed what he'd done until, the 11 purple roots exploded out of the ground and started heading straight towards him. He quickly jumped backwards and hurled all his birds forward, colliding with all the plants. Deidara was ginning until he saw the plants come through the dust, with only minor damage, and still heading straight towards him. He quickly turned on his heel and jumped through the cave opening!

All the plants stopped shortly outside of the cave opening.

Deidara sighed, about ten meters away from the opening, and started making more clay birds. He vaguely noticed that all the roots were starting to sprout leaves, but didn't pay it much attention, until he heard the blonde.

**Mokuton Hijutsu: Konaha Shurikan no jutsu (Leaf Shurikan Technique).**

That made his blood run cold as he saw the leaves on the plants shine slightly, as if they were made of iron, before they were launched by some unseen force towards the blonde Akatsuki Membber. There was so many that it looked like a whole blizzard of leaves was coming down on him. He quickly launched the nine birds he create towards the leaves, and flinched when he saw them slice to shreds, and fall to the ground uselessly.

Naruto, wincing slightly due to finally seeing the sun again after so long, appeared outside the cave with a grin as he witnessed the man's body be ripped to shreds, only to be replaced by clay. Naruto mentally growled, when he heard something behind him. He quickly turned in time to see Deidara launch eight more birds at him.

Deidara stared at the still smiling blonde, as his clay birds connected with him. All the birds connected and exploded. The blonde smirked slightly, "I just hope my art didn't kill him, still need to re-extract the blasted fox from him." Deidara continued to wait until the dust was clear. When it did, his eyes widened. There, right where Naruto should have been, was a wooden barrier. "WHAT THE HELL!" 'I didn't even see him do any handseals!' Suddenly four plants came out of the ground, around Deidara, and began to drag him into the ground.

"**Mokuton Hijutsu: Shokubotsu Funkei no Jutsu!"**

The man quickly did a handseal, and quickly turned into clay.

Naruto didn't even bat an eye, as he put more chakra into the technique. "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan no Jutsu!"**

The plants, that had originally been trying to grasp Deidara's legs, quickly began to twist together, slowly rising from the ground, and growing. The tree continued growing until it was fifty meters tall, and about five meters in diameter. The tree itself wasn't something to worry about; it was the giant canopy of large purple leaves that one should be afraid of.

Deidara watched the whole thing, hidden in the branches of a tree. 'Why can't I predict his movements! His fucking **Kenki** **(Offensive Aura)** has completely disappeared! The brat's better than I thought, maybe because we are no longer in a desert!' He quickly opened one of his clay pouches, ecstatic that he had remembered to bring a lot extra, after his last run in with the demon brat. He glared at the plant, 'No way I can let this bastard defeat me, using plants; a technique that last a long time; I would never hear the end of it from that cursed Sasori.'

Naruto grinned from his position, hiding in the giant tree's branches, he knew that Deidara had watched the giant tree grow, but he just didn't know where. But while Deidara was worried about what was going above the ground, he should have been more worried about what was happening below it. As the roots of the giant tree were spreading out across the forest.

Naruto put back up his new mask, the one that only showed a warm smile, when he started leaking his chakra into some of the trees around the forest, it didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. 'That tree feels a little different from the others, has a lot more chakra around it. Hmmmm…'

**"May I remind you that you haven't even used one whole chakra tail, and you only have seven minutes left!"**

'Bite me! I can't just go at him like a moron, or I'll get myself killed! I'm trying to use as much chakra as possible, without causing the jutsu to fail!'

**"And what the hell are you going to do when you run out of time and you haven't even wasted enough tails of chakra?"**

'FIGURE SOMETHING OUT! NOW LET ME CONCENTRATE!' Hearing the fox grumble, he continued to concentrate. He started concentrating more of his chakra, through the big tree, down to the roots, which connected to the roots of the suspicious tree.

Deidara didn't even know what hit him, as he was unceremoniously, and literally, thrown out of the tree by the very tree itself.

When he landed, out in the open, away from the birds he had just made, he gulped

"**Mokuton Hijutsu: Konaha Shurikan no Jutsu!"**

Deidara's eyes widened as he saw all the leaves of the giant tree literally launch themselves out of it and quickly turn towards him. Thinking quickly, he summoned forth the birds he had created. 'I'll just have to blow them up, before they make contact.' Fourteen birds flew around him, before they quickly flew in the direction of the, literal, tornado made of leaves. A second before the birds connected, he sent the command for all of them to blow up!

_---Naruto's mindscape---_

The fox growled to himself as he absorbed a full tail of chakra. Counting the tail that Naruto has just about wasted, that left only three that he needed to reabsorb, or that Naruto needed to use up, in six minutes.

That's when he noticed something, the tail of chakra that he had reabsorbed, was slowly leaving him, not enough that it would put Naruto's, or more importantly his, life in danger, but it was still something very curious. It was sliding through the seal. He looked back at one of his other tails, one that had slowly been regenerating, it wasn't being absorbed. **"What the hell?" **He took a closer look at the tail, and the tail that was being transferred through the seal. **"Well I'd be a monkey's uncle…Must have something to do with the slightly damaged seal…and the element of this specific tail…"**

He grinned as he quickly pushed the tail against the seal, making the transfer process a whole lot quicker. At the same time he quickly started reabsorbing a second tail from Naruto, **'If my hypothesis is correct, this tail should work the exact same way!'**

_---Naruto---_

Naruto blinked when he saw the large explosion take out most of his leaves, the ones that weren't taken out, were flung away by the force of the explosion, now harmless. He could see Deidara quickly create even more of those accursed birds out of clay. He mentally sighed as he stood back up, in his position in the branches of the giant tree, no longer being hidden by the leaves of the tree. 'Ok, screw finesse, it's about time I burned off some of this chakra. I'll give these guy's a hell load of chakra.' He quickly did a few handseals, "**Mokuton Hijutsu: Taju Oni Moku Bunshin no jutsu!"**

Chakra started to seep from Naruto, and in seconds, one hundred demonic plants in the shape of foxes, formed around Naruto on the branches of the trees. For only a moment, Naruto's face twisted into a sadistic grin, "Go nuts…" The foxes quickly leapt downwards, going straight towards the Akatsuki member, well almost all of them.

Naruto turned his gaze towards one specific fox, that didn't follow, and an ordinary **Moku Bunshin**. Naruto held out his hand, his palm facing upwards. The fox came over, and opened its mouth up wide, holding it right next to Naruto's hand. Naruto grinned, 'Spin…spin…spin…spin…'

_---Naruto---_

Deidara growled to himself, as he destroyed yet one more of those accursed demonic plants. He had been doing this for well over ten minutes. When he saw the plants descending towards him, he decided that right then would be a good time to retreat, unfortunately for him, every time he tried to retreat, he was cut off by one of those damn foxes. He must have destroyed almost a hundred of them. What's worse was that some of them regenerated themselves and he would have to kill them all over again, which is what he was dealing with right now.

He tried to escape in the ground, a fox would stop him a second before he could complete a **Doton** jutsu. He tried through the trees, 'Bloody foxes a worse than Zetsu, how they can merge with trees.' He already gave up on flying away; he kept getting attack before he could form a bird nearly large enough.

The blonde had four, rather large, clay birds flying around him. He kept glancing from side to side, looking for the last few foxes that seemed to not want to die. He quickly turned around in time to see a fox soaring through the air, coming straight at him. He quickly launched one of his birds, straight that the plant beast, easily blowing the damn thing up. He turned around and launched two more at two foxes that had tried to sneak up on him. The blonde growled to himself, 'I'm almost out of chakra.'

Deidara took one quick glance around, before he molded more clay into his remaining clay bird. It quickly formed into a clay bird large enough for him to escape, 'No choice, I used the last of my clay.' His senses started screaming danger, as he quickly turned around to see a certain blonde flying down on him.

Naruto was holding an orb of red and blue chakra, with a glowing green center. Naruto brought it down on Deidara, however the Nuke-nin quickly jumped backwards, sending his bird to fly away at the same time. Naruto, still with that smile, upon landing on the ground quickly hurled his orb into the ground, **"Mokuton Hijutsu: Rasen Shikyo Shushi (Spiraling Death Seed)"**, the second that the **Rasengan** hit the ground, the dirt exploded. Naruto quickly jumped backwards, as Deidara glared into the dust that hid the other blonde's retreat. Naruto on the other hand was thinking quickly, '3…2…' Naruto flinched slightly when, what must have been forty giant, thorned roots erupted from the crater, growing rapidly in every direction. He continued to stare, as two of the roots, each about half as wide as he was tall, came at him and pierced his body. 'He' grinned as 'he' dissolved into leaves. Somewhere close by, a certain blonde was cursing himself for his timing being off.

Deidara, facing a similar situation, quickly jumped on top of one of the roots that were coming down on him, letting the root carry him away from the dangerous plants. He flinched slightly as one of the thorns grazed his foot. He quickly shifted his head to avoid being beheaded by another plant, using chakra to stay on the root. He quickly twisted himself to the side slightly to avoid being hit by another one; he quickly summoned his bird. Deidara, once he felt that he was safe enough from being impaled by more roots, he quickly jumped off the plant and quickly ran towards the clay bird, which he saw in a nearby clearing.

Deidara grinned as he came closer to the fake animal, however that was quickly eliminated when it exploded in a puff of smoke, revealing another one of Naruto's foxes. Deidara, actually caught off guard, didn't have enough time to react as the fox jumped on top of him, and chomped down on his shoulder. Deidara flinched slightly and pulled out a kunai, but his blood quickly ran cold…

"**Mokuton Hijutsu: Rasen Shikyo Shushi!"**

Deidara's eyes widened as he felt the Spiraling Sphere hit him in the back, ripping through it.

Naruto, ignoring the blood that had splashed on his face, quickly jumped backwards, '3…2…' He once again cursed himself as Deidara literally exploded into blood and even more Roots.

The blonde continued jumping backwards, dodging between roots as best as he could, he flinched slightly as he felt one of the roots graze his arms and legs. His eyes widened as he saw four more roots descending on him, he quickly concentrating the Kyuubi's chakra into his feet and easily avoided them, just as they hit the ground. Naruto quickly did a backflip, landing on his hands and knees as he quickly finally reached the thirty meter limit of the **Rasen Shikyo Shushi.**

He fell to his knees, physically exhausted, though he was still surging with chakra.

**"IDIOT! YOU STILL HAVE TO GET RID OF ANOTHER QUARTER OF A TAIL! YOU ONLY HAVE THIRTY SECONDS!"**

Naruto's eyes widened as he quickly formed another set of seals. **"Mokuton Hijutsu: Chakra Hiru Oni Ki no Jutsu!**" Within seconds, a hundred Chakra sucking plants formed around Naruto and quickly attached themselves to the blonde Jinchuuriki, until he was covered from head to toe.

_---Itachi and Kakashi---_

Kakashi quickly landed in a crouch, physically exhausted. He glared at the Uchiha, who only seemed slightly winded. Itachi looked over in the direction of the Kyuubi's chakra, noticing the absence of Deidara's chakra signature. 'This is…unsettling. Deidara has been slain. Sasori has retreated. Both the Gaara-kun and Naruto-kun seem to have drawn even more of their respective demon's chakra. At best, we can hope for a stalemate. We must retreat.'

As Kakashi stood up, Itachi disappeared in a whirl of leaves. The Jounin's eyes widened, no longer being able to feel Itachi's presence. 'He just left…'

"**Dainamikku-Entorī ****(Dynamic Entry)**!" Yelled Lee, but soon paused when he noticed the Itachi was nowhere in sight, and that Kakashi was covering up his **Sharingan. **He took a quick look around before slumping his shoulders, "Is it over?"

Kakashi nodded as he waved Lee to follow him.

_---Haku, Kisame, and Neji---_

"Hakke Rokujū Yonshōu!" Screamed the Hyuuga prodigy as he quickly launched into the dance that he hoped would seal Kisame's fate. "Two strikes!" He launched the fist two attacks, mentally grinning as he connected with boy of them. "Four Strikes!" Kisame growled as he raised his sword and managed to block three of the next four attacks; causing Neji to wince as he jabbed the scale like points of the sword. "Eight Strikes! Sixteen Strikes!" Kisame quickly blocked the next attack by either his sword, or his free hand, blocking all but two. "Thirty-two strikes!" Kisame grinned as he could see the Hyuuga's attack get slightly slowly, he easily blocked them all. "Sixty-four strikes!" The sharkman blocked every strike once again. 

Neji quickly jumped backwards, glaring at the man, 'Damn it, only close five points!' He could see the Akatsuki member, was only slightly winded; with a few senbon needles protruding from his body, at non-lethal points. Neji himself was panting rather hard, multiple scratches around his body, and worse of all his fingers. He glanced over the Haku, noting that the girl was much worse than he was. She had fought the Akatsuki member on even grounds for a few minutes, but as her stamina and chakra left her body, she started to slow down. At the moment, the girl was struggling to stay on her feet, let alone stay on the water. 'She's used to much of her chakra!' He turned back to Kisame, 'This bastard is a freaking monster! There's no way he could have this much stamina! It's even more than Naruto's!'

His eyes widened as he saw another figure approaching them. Kisame looked to the side, noticing Itachi land right next to him. "Kisame, we're leaving!"

Kisame's eyes widened, "We're retreating again!"

Itachi nodded, "We must re-plan!" He muttered before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Kisame shrugged before turning back to Haku, "I must say, Zabuza would be very disappointed in you.", he said with a grin, disappearing in a swirl of water.

_---Naruto---_

**"HURRY!!!"**

"I'M TRYING YOU NO TAILED RETARD!"

"It's nice to see you too…" muttered a certain silver-haired jounin, with Lee behind him. "What are you doing exactly?"

Naruto didn't answer as he fell unconscious.

_---Naruto's mindscape---_

Naruto sighed as he thought about it for the thousandth time in the last minute. 'Miso…no pork, wait maybe chicken…no pork, pork!'

**"BRAT!"**

Naruto turned towards the large fox, who now had seven of his tails back, realizing that he had been ignoring the demon.

**"Were you listening to a single thing I just said?"** he asked with a glare.

Naruto merely waved it off, "Of course…you were saying that…you are such…a hot fox…and every…and any… woman would love to have your child." He said with a grin.

The fox shrugged, **"Ok, my mistake, I guess you ****were**** listening…"**

Naruto sweatdropped. He was spending too much time with this damn fox, to be able to know what he would talk about.

**"Anyway, by the way, you should know something." ** He could see the blonde nod with something akin to boredom in his eyes. **"I gave you two of my tails."**

Naruto's flinched slightly at that, "WHAT!"

The fox nodded, **"Together the two of us only absorbed/used four tails of chakra; you needed five tails absorbed in order to live. So I used a quick process of increasing your normal chakra levels, thus allowing you to access more of my chakra, easily."**

Naruto blinked a few times.

The fox sighed, **"I discovered something through the broken seal that I didn't know before. The seal on your stomach, has not only been absorbing my chakra, it's been purifying it, making it something similar to your own human chakra. Anyway, after I reabsorbed one of my tails, I noticed one thing very quickly, the same tail that I reabsorbed was steadily flowing back through the seal, at a faster MUCH faster level than it normally would. Which is why I noticed it at all." **Naruto nodded, urging him to continued, **"Anyway, it wasn't just because of the broken seal, it was because of what that specific tail represented. It was one of the tails, which I used to manipulate the elements, or more specifically my Mizu Tail (Water Tail). After finding this out, I quickly pushed it through the broken seal, increasing the absorption rate exponentially. Then I started taking back the only other tail you would be able to absorb, my Chi Tail (Earth Tail). These two specifically would work because…"**

"They are my elemental affinities…" finished the blonde before noticing something, "Wait…the seal looks fine to me…"

The demon shrugged**, "The seal, restored itself _partially_ after I took back the rest of my chakra, which was easier to get back since your chakra coils were no longer going crazy."**

"Partially?"

**"Before you ask…I have no idea how this will affect you."**

"You really are lacking in a lot of answers I need lately…"

The fox shrugged, **"I'm no expert in this sealing crap, alright brat! You want to speak with someone, talk to the pervert. You might also want to ask him about the two tails worth of chakra that you now have, no telling what the hell that might have done."**

Naruto nodded, resisting the urge to flick him off… as he turned around and started walking away.

**"Hey brat!"**

Naruto turned his head back.

**"You'll have to go back to Konaha!"** Seeing Naruto's eyes widen slightly, he decided to continue, **"You need to make that silver-haired pervert make good on his promise to give you more scrolls with earth and water jutsu. Though you have a large library of jutsu of those specific those specific elements, they are all useless in a real battle. Besides, I doubt you want to fight the pervert or the brat with the huge eyebrows."**

Naruto sighed, silently agreeing with the fox's logic, "I wouldn't mind seeing the old bat, see what she's up too, not to mention Iruka." He muttered as he turned back around, but paused as a thought came to his mind, "Hey retard…I heard that the seal would eventually absorb you…is that true."

The demon sighed, **"Yes…it is taking my life little by little, as it absorbed my chakra. Originally, I wouldn't have been taken until you were about 63…but after I gave you those two tails, I probably shaved at least 14 years off that time…"**

Naruto snorted, "Great…another 30 or so years with you still…can't…get rid of you can I…"

The fox actually smiled, **"Nope, I suppose you can't…OH! Before I forget, come back over here for a moment? I want to give you something!"**

Naruto turned towards the fox, curiosity getting the better of his sense of logic…big mistake…The moment Naruto got close enough to the prison,

BAM

He found himself immediately kissing the ground…

**"REMEMBER THAT! Because it's going to happen again, the next time you _stupidly_ get yourself caught off guard! Now get the hell out of my chambers!"**

As he slowly lifted himself up, Naruto could only glare at the fox, before he was banished from his own mind.

_---Back in the clearing---_

Naruto jumped to his feet the second that he stood up. He noticed that he was surrouned on all sides. He opened his eyes to see Sakura, Rei, and Lee uncomfortably close to him, all had tears in their eyes.

"NISAN!" He flinched as Rei glomped him, almost sending him to the ground. Ignoring the glare that Yukina sent the girl, he slowly returned her hug. She pulled away from him, smiling somewhat… He smiled back, before being glomped for again.

This time by Sakura. He froze somewhat, feeling tears on his shoulder. "Sakura…-AHHH!"

Within a second Naruto found himself kissing the ground, before being painfully pulled off the ground, and being shaken brutally, "HOW DARE YOU LET YOURSELF BE CAPTURE IN SUCH A STUPID WAY YOU BLONDE HAIRED IDIOT! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING! WERE YOU EVEN THINKING! I SHOULD BEAT THAT STUPID SKULL OF YOURS INTO THE GROUND FOR YOUR STUPIDITY!"

The rest of the group sweatdropped at the display from the two ex-teammates. It was actually semi-comical…for them at least…

Naruto, for the first time in a long time, felt true and utter fear well up inside of him. That day he learned one thing and one thing alone, DON'T PISS OFF HARUNO SAKURA!

_---Later that day---_

It had been decided that the group would first go to Sunagakure, making sure that the Kazekage and his party returned their safely, and then escort Naruto to Konahagakure.

Kakashi and Rin were both surprised when Naruto didn't seem to complain, they were all relieved.

After _walking_ for about a day, and meeting up with Temari, the group stopped to rest. The walk itself was without much incident. Sakura and Rei kept hounding him on his trip, and especially about his eyes. One major problem was that every time Rei would address Naruto, she would address him as _Nisan,_ something which was clearly annoying a certain blonde princess, though this little fact seemed to be lost on both Naruto and Rei, or at least they chose to ignore it.. After they ate, they all pitched up a tent. Minus Gaara, whom didn't carry one, and Naruto who couldn't find his in the remnants of his supplies which he found back in the cave. Thankfully, he found his Hitai-ate, still in good condition, but he was kind of annoyed when he didn't find his jacket; leaving him in only his dark blue pants and shirt.

Sakura sighed for about the hundredth time since she had set up her tent. She hated camping, she really did. Then looked around at everyone, who had pitched up a similar tents as hers, except Gaara and… 'NARUTO!' She quickly squealed in delight, getting the attention of mostly everyone in the camp, before she put on her best puppy dogface. "Naruto…" she whined, "I forgot to pack my tent…can I stay with you?"

Everyone in the camp stared at her in shock, for numerous reasons, except for a certain copy-nin who was chuckling to himself.

Lee quickly ran to Sakura, "You can stay with me Sakura-AHHH!" Instead of ignoring Lee, she used two of her fingers to make him kiss the floor as well.

Yukina walked up to her as well, "You wish to stay with my…I mean with Naruto?" She asked in a matter of fact tone of voice, "Even though you obviously have a perfectly good tent right there." She pointed at the tent Sakura just pitched.

With a flick of her wrist, Sakura sent a kunai sailing towards her tent, and the moment it connected, it blew up.

Everyone stared at this with shock.

"Naruuuuutoooo, Yukina destroyed my tent, can I pleeeease stay with yoouuuuuu?'

Naruto sighed as he nodded, easily understanding what Sakura wanted him to do.

Yukina glared at the pink-haired girl, her eye twitching dangerously. "Excuse me Sakura-san, but did you just accuse me of destroying your tent?", she asked already knowing the answer.

Sakura turned towards her with a shrug, "Excuse me, Yukina-_hime_, but I do believe that was one of _your_ kunai."

Yukina raised an eye as she checked her kunai pouch, noticing one of them and one of her explosive tags, were indeed missing, 'Bitch…'

Naruto quickly did the handseals he needed to do, **"Shichūka no Jutsu!"**, making sure to add some of the demon fox's chakra.

In a few seconds Naruto could be found on top of a huge inn-sized house.

Everyone, save Sakura and Kakashi, stared at him in shock. Naruto just jumped off the inn before asking, "Did Yukina's kunai destroy anyone else's tents?" before walking inside.

Yukina's eye twitched as she saw Sakura bounce inside of the inn, Kakashi walking behind her. Rin and Rei, after getting over their shock, walked inside. Neji shrugged, before following, with Lee running beside him. Chiyo yawned as she followed everyone. Lastly was Temari who gave a quick look to Gaara. Gaara merely waved her off, as he jumped up, and on top of the three-story building. Temari sighed as she walked inside. Yukina turned towards Haku, the last one still out. Haku, feeling her gaze, just smiled, "I'm going to collect everyone's tents, please go ahead without me."

Yukina smiled back, "I'll assist you…"

However Haku shook her head, "No need. To be honest I would like a few moments alone to collect my thoughts. I'll leave your tent folded and inside…Naruto-san's inn."

Yukina sighed, "If that's what you want, I appreciate the gesture." She said before going inside as well.

Yukina's eyes widened in surprised at how furnished this inn really was…Yukina, and and everyone else save for Naruto, gawked at the several couches that adorned the first floor. A fireplace in the corner, soft rugs on the floor, even what looked like a kitchen. The most noticeable thing was a large, 12 ft by 8 ft, painting of Naruto, hung over the fireplace. The boy was doing a ridiculous pose, which only one man could have taught him.

Sakura turned towards Naruto, still gawking, "This place wasn't this stocked the last time I was here…"

Naruto shrugged, flashing her a smile, "I did a little remodeling." 'Amazing what you can do with a little demonic chakra.'

Sakura grinned at Naruto, "So does that mean this place has running water and a place where I can take a bath?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, "Sakura…it's a _wooden_ house created by a _jutsu_. There isn't running water…We are still technically camping, you just have to rough it out." he said as he walked towards the place that looked like a kitchen.

Sakura looked down crested after hearing that, 'Darn…' She could feel Kakashi pat her shoulder sympathetically as the others continued to look around the building.

That is, until they all heard Naruto call from the kitchen, "What the hell! Why isn't my instant ramen maker _plugged _in?"

Everyone face faulted.

Naruto sighed as he walked up the stairs to the top floor, the third one. He quickly looked around before picking the room he usually uses. He threw his bag in the _closet_. Before throwing himself on the _bed_. He took a quick look around the room, seeing the two nightstands on either side of the bed, a large desk on the wall opposite of the desk, and a chair near the desk. He stayed there for a few moments before getting back up, deciding that he really wanted to take a walk. Problem being…he found his doorway blocked.

By his…_sister…_

Yukina stared at the boy sadly, before walking inside of the room.

Naruto sighed, 'Too many family reunions…'

"Naruto…I…" she paused for a moment, trying to find her voice.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at he, "Wanted to talk? Well then spit it out…" he said coldly.

Yukina sighed, "I just wanted to apologize. I'm sorry that…" she paused, breathing somewhat heavily, "…that I…" she sighed once more, "I really wish that father had chosen me…not you-"

"STOP!" he snapped, somewhat startling her. "Are you trying to apologize for the fact that I was chosen to be the host instead of you?"

Yukina stared at him sadly, "I…"

"Don't be an idiot…Do you actually believe that I hate you for something as ridiculous as that?"

Yukina stared at him in confusion, "Don't you?", she asked softly.

"I hope you haven't spent a long time trying to come up with that apology."

"I…"

"For your information…I don't hate you because I have the Kyuubi inside of me, instead of you. If I did, then I'd be the same as almost every other idiot in that entire village."

Yukina sighed, in relief.

"And that's why I hate you…" Her expression and mood dropped considerably when he said that. She stared at him, he had stopped smiling and was looking at her with cold eyes. "I hate you, because you decided to treat me like every other asshole in that village. You had pain in your heart and instead of finding a way passed it, you just decided to go looking for an outlet, the most convenient one you could find. You refused to acknowledge my humanity, without even getting a chance to know me, and THAT is why I hate you. That is something that I just can't forgive…"

Yukina clenched her eyes shut, holding back her tears. "I'm…sorry…"

Naruto walked passed her, before stopping at the doorway, he turned back, seeing the images of pink, silver, and brown haired kunouichi and one beautiful green beast, flash away from the window. Naruto sighed to himself, 'Can't get any privacy…' He then looked back at the blonde haired girl, "However…thanks for coming to help me." 'I do owe her a thanks, at the very least…'

Yukina smiled at him, "It was my pleasure!", she said enthusiastically, before going into a thinking pose, "I'm curious to see how Homura-san and Koharu-san will react to my disobeying them. They requested me to keep my distance from you. I know for a fact that they will be irritable upon our return."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he pictured Yukina in front of the two elders.

"_**Yukina! What were you thinking going after that beast! You should have just let the bloody thing die! What were you thinking!" screamed the old woman, Koharu. Said girl was standing in front of the council of Konaha, minus the hokage.**_

_**Homura looked at her sternly, "What do you have to say for yourself?"**_

_**Yukina had tears in her eyes, "I'm Kazama Ryuu Yukina…" She said as tears started to stream down her face, at that moment the entire council gasped. "I don't understand…why are you yelling at me? Don't you love me anymore?"**_

_**Koharu ran up to the girl and embraced her, soothing to crying girl, "Of course we do! Please don't cry!"**_

**_Homura looked at the girl with tears in his eyes, "Such a poor girl to have endured so much, yet go after the __thing__ that killed her parents…Oh dear such a sweet, strong girl!"_**

_**Koharu turned back to Homura, still holding onto the girl, "Perhaps we should give her a parade! And her own holiday!"**_

Naruto mentally growled, 'They better not be giving away free ramen!'

A certain demon fox sweatdropped at the boy's reaction, and thoughts **"Brat, I think your getting a little ahead of yourself."**

Naruto blinked a few times, 'Were…you just in my head?'

**"I swear on my seven tails, that I was not in your head"**, the fox laughed, **"That was all you…"**

Naruto mentally slapped himself. As he exited the room, but paused when he heard Yukina run out after him. He turned towards her, noticing the girl look at him, "I want to give you something when we return to the village…"

The blonde just shrugged and walked off.

_---Outside---_

Naruto walked outside, noticing two things. Haku was just walking inside, said girl nodding to him as she passed him with a pile of items in her hand. The second was Gaara's chakra signature. He shrugged it off, calling over his shoulder, "Hey Sandman, I'm taking a walk."

Said redhead barely listened, otherwise he probably would have killed the blonde for the 'Sandman' comment. To anyone looking at him, they would think that the boy was meditating…but he was far from being calm. His demon was acting up again…but not in the same way it had been for the last fifteen years of his life…he was still mentally flinching at what started this whole conversation, only about five minutes ago

_---Flashback---_

_As Gaara landed on the roof of the inn, he heard started hearing laughter in his head. He sat down on the roof, putting his Gourd to his side, before asking, 'Why are you laughing?'_

**_"Ok Brat! Seeing as how you gained my respect, I will teach you the sacred art of the Tanuki!"_**

_Gaara raised an eyebrow at this, the chance for more power maybe, were his original thoughts. 'If it will help me protect the village, perhaps…'_

_**"THE ART OF TANUKI SEDUCTION, BABY!"**_

_Gaara nearly face faulted, for the first time in his life._

**_"Ok first, we'll need to do some __research__ on some of the lovely ladies of the village!"_**

'_Shukaku…this really isn't necessary.'_

_**"And then, we'll get some advice, from the writer of Icha Icha Paradise!"**_

'_The perverted book that Kankuro always read? Why? How would you even know its contents? I've never read it before.'_

_**"Trust me when I say, that you'd prefer if I didn't answer that. Anyway the process should only take a few days, before you have your own private HAREM!"**_

_Gaara slapped himself, the demon was barely listening to his protest, and in truth…he DID NOT want to know how the demon knew Icha Icha Paradise.._

_---End Flashback---_

The Tanuki continued to rant, giving very perverted things the two could do, together: including sneak into the women's bathhouse and mandatory female dress codes. Gaara wasn't annoyed by the demon's pervertedness, he was annoyed by the fact that he-the Kazekage-was actually thinking about it… 'NO! I will not disgrace myself by doing such acts…'

**"How about adding that silver-haired chick first?"**

'Who? Do you mean Rei-san? Why?'

**"You can't hide it from me! I saw you checking out her ass!"**

The sand nin slapped his forehead for the eleventh time in the last five minutes.

"Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara turned his head too see Rei standing right next to him. He mentally cursed himself for not sensing her sooner, but chalked it up to the Tanuki. He didn't even budge as she sat down next to him. He blushed to himself, noticing her smile at him, he cursed under his breath, "I wonder if any other Jinchuuriki's have to deal with perverted demons…"

**"TAKE HER! TAKE HER NOW!"**

_---Naruto---_

Naruto stood at the edge of a canyon, staring up at the night sky. He loved the night sky, not because he was a shinobi, but because he loved looking at the stars. Something so soothing about the whole thing. It was one of the things he loved most about traveling. Large villages like Konaha, always had to much light to be able to get a decent look at the stars; unless you went deep into the forest. 'Hey retard, you said something about my chakra being different, since it merged with yours, how different?'

The fox shrugged, **"Even though my chakra was purified, it probably still retained some of the properties that my chakra possessed, like regeneration, though on a smaller scale."**

Naruto blinked as he pulled up a bamboo flow, and held it up, "Hmmmm, I wonder…" He quickly did a few handseals, not concentrating any of the demon's chakra into it, **"Mokuton Hijutsu: Shokubutsu Henkan no jutsu (Wood Release Secret Technique: Plant Transformation Technique)!" **Naruto watched as the bamboo flower grew into it's a normal bamboo sword, it then proceeded to flatten and little by little form into the thorn blade. Naruto slid his hand over the edge, 'Hmmmm, looks like the normal demon form of the bamboo sword', he took a quick look over the green sword, 'Though it's green, not purple.' He took another glance over it, 'Not as sharp either.'

**"Hmmm, so you can transform plants to a greater extent without my chakra…well technically speaking at least…since it's purified the chakra is yours now."**

Naruto grinned, 'I'll have to experiment with this more.' He got up with a yawn 'I think I'll try…_that_ jutsu again…'

**"You should be able to pull it off without me…I'm going to sleep."**

Naruto shrugged as he looked down the canyon. It being larger than the giant frog, he remembered Jiraiya using. The boy took a deep breath, before jumping off the canyon, quickly doing a set of handseals, making sure to concentrate some of the demonic chakra that had returned to his system.

_---The inn---_

Kakashi walked outside the inn and looked around in confusion. He turned to where he felt Gaara's chakra signature. "Kazekage-sama, do you know where Naruto is?"

Gaara just pointed in the direction nodded went. Kakashi shrugged as he walked in Naruto's direction, vaguely aware of the fact that Gaara was rubbing his temple.

Kakashi's visible eye widened, he could feel the Kyuubi's chakra. 'I don't feel any other chakra signatures, so he's not being attacked. I guess he must be training…at this ungodly hour…'

He continued walking for a few more moments. Knowing that he was close to Naruto.

"**YOU MADE ME INTO A FREAKING USAGI (Rabbit)!"**

Kakashi's eye widened again, 'What the hell?' he asked as he continued walking through the forest. He came out of the forest, to see Naruto near the edge of a canyon, laughing his ass off. He vaguely noticed a lot of smoke. "Naruto?"

The blonde turned to his former sensei, still trying to hold in a chuckle.

**"You dirty bastard! YOU'RE SICK! YOU'RE FUCKING SICK! I swear that you will pay for this you blonde haired bastard! I SWEAR IT!"** The fox was shuddering violently, inside of his cage.

Naruto continued to chuckle to himself at the fox's antics, though he had no doubt that the fox WOULD try to kill him, if he were ever given the chance.

Kakashi walked forward and sat down next to Naruto, before asking, "What's so funny?"

The blonde started chuckling to himself a little, "Oh nothing…just torturing my prisoner…"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Really? Hmmm, I don't think I want to know."

Naruto shrugged as he sent Kakashi his patented chilly grin.

Feeling a shudder creep down his spine, he quickly opted to change to subject, "So, why'd you decide to come back with us so…easily?"

Naruto continued to smile at the man, as he said in a sing-song voice, "Kakashi-sensei! Why wouldn't I want to go back to my home village, that I love so much!"

The older man once again shuddered at the blonde's tone.

Naruto shrugged, "Some will say I miss all my friends. Some will say I was getting home sick. I say that they are all full of shit and I'm going back for the Earth and Water scrolls that YOU promised me. Hmmm, maybe I'll go visit Ichiraku as well."

Kakashi sweat dropped, but he quickly shrugged it off, "Which reminds me, you'll be happy to know that it's now the Ichiraku Ramen Restaurant!"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, "What?"

Kakashi sighed, "It's a long story, but here it goes. When you left…there was a huge celebration-"

"Big surprise", snorted the blonde.

"Yea…anyway so, as some type of _poetic '_justice'" he said the word 'justice' with disgust, "Some villagers decided to go too Ichiraku for a celebration."

Naruto actually looked crestfallen for a few moments, "So the old man couldn't turn down the opportunity to make extra money."

"You have to understand it's business, Naruto… Instead of kicking them all out, a little less than a quarter of the village gathering around that small ramen stand, he opted to raise his prices when he noticed the people were drunk."

Naruto's smile returned, "The old man taking advantage of drunk people? Never would have guessed. So how much did he raise his prices, double? Triple?"

Kakashi grinned at him, though you couldn't tell under the mask, "He multiplied his prices by ten."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"When I said they were drunk, I meant that they were hammered, severely. To this day, I doubt that any of them even know what the old man did."

"Geez…and he made enough to make a restaurant?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Not enough…that night."

"That night?"

"Well you see, that specific night, _you_ came into the restaurant." Naruto raised an eyebrow at Kakashi's declaration, "And sat down and ordered a large bowl of ramen. When the people saw _you_ they all just dropped their bowls, not bothering to get a refund, and walked away, grumbling. The old man laughed it off when the person exploded into smoke, revealing the user of the **Henge**."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Who was it?"

Kakashi grinned, "Sakura mostly, she was the one who started it that night. Rei helped once, using the excuse that she was training and Rin even participated one day."

"Wait the villagers held more than one celebration?"

Kakashi nodded, "Yea, since the first celebration was halted, they waited for more rumors to circulate that you had indeed left the village. So they tried there little celebration again a few days later, and Teuchi once again raised his prices. Sakura once again went back to Ichiraku that night and the villagers once again left grumbling. This happened on eight separate occasions, until Teuchi closed the ramen stand for remodeling."

The blonde blinked a few times before exploding into laughter, "HAHAHAHA, I didn't know the old man and Sakura could be so sly. What about Ayame?"

Kakshi shrugged, "She's now the heiress of the most successful restaurant in all of Fire Country." He then turned back to the blonde, "So tell me about your training. You defeated Deidara and managed to improve the **Rasengan**. That's impressive."

Naruto shrugged, "It was simple really. Discovered a method to lower an enemies ability to read my movements."

Kakashi's eyes widened, "How!"

"Just by smiling at them. Not a smirking smile, or a 'I'm going to kill you smile', or even a 'I'm freaking Uchiha Sasuke and I'm going to mess your up' smile", at that moment Kakashi sweat dropped, "Just a true warm smile. You know how they teach you to read a person's face and emotions while fighting them, back in the academy; well if you just keep smiling, they can't read your face; it's similar to not showing any emotion at all on your face or even wearing a real mask, like you. The next part comes from wearing a warm smile. Showing no killer intent, or angry emotions, it inhibits the ability to read someone based on their emotions." Naruto turned to Kakashi smiling, "You hide your **Kenki**, because in some sense you don't have any. It's as if your sitting and having lunch with a good friend; which is why ninja don't get the, 'oh this person is coming to kill me' sense in the back of their head."

Kakashi's visible eye widened, "Reading people based on emotions and facial features. It's what the **Sharingan** does, though its exponentially more enhanced than a normal person's senses." Kakashi declared, "So you think you can hide yourself from the **Sharingan**?"

Naruto shrugged, "Not completely, just block it somewhat. There's still a few imperfections with the technique."

"You can't hide your hand, leg, or other body motions, which also helps a shinobi predict your next actions."

Naruto nodded.

Kakashi opted to change the subject, "So, I heard you almost died back there, how was that like?"

The blonde shrugged, "Hurts like a bitch! But I did get a glimpse at the border, between out world and the afterlife."

The copy-nin's eyes widened, "Really? How was it?"

The boy shrugged again, "There's a lack of chairs…"

Kakashi face-faulted…something that shouldn't be possible while sitting.

"I also saw old man Hokage, and…_them…"_

All of Kakashi's senses froze when he heard that simple sentence. "Did you now. Are you sure? What did they look like?"

Naruto sighed, "The old man, wasn't so old anymore. His hair was black and he looked pretty young. My…The fourth Hokage looked like an adult version of me, minus the whisker-marks. And…his wife looked like an adult version of Yukina, though the woman had green eyes, not blue."

Kakashi nodded, "Sounds like them, the two of you look a lot like them", declared the copy-nin.

Naruto scoffed at the comment.

"Did you talk?"

"There was some talking, some yelling, but after all that and a few hours of counseling, we are one big happy family now. I swear those afterlife therapists are miracle workers!", laughed the blonde.

"Hmmm, so did you ever get the answers you were seeking?", he asked, ignoring the crack about getting along and counseling.

His eyes narrowed, "_He_ explained his side of the story…and you know what, even though it pisses me off to no end, I can understand why he did what he did. _She_…didn't even try talking to me", he muttered in an angry tone. Naruto sighed to himself, "There was so much more I wanted to say…well, yell actually." Naruto grinned, using his ordinary mask, "Once in a life time opportunity to unload some anger and I screw it up. Maybe all this hermit crap I've been doing has dulled my hatred, that really pisses me off!"

"Well that was your original intention, wasn't it? Too forget your past. Oh, and if you don't mind me saying it sounds like it was Kizuna-hime who _blew it_…"

He shot a glare at Kakashi, kind of annoyed at the formality, "What the hell could she possibly have to say to me?"

"An explanation as to _why_ she abandoned you. It's a question that has plague me, Rin, and the Sandaime-sama; I really would have liked to know the answer. The fact is that her…abandoning you caused a lot of shock in many of us who knew her. I still remember the day in which I heard about it all…" He turned to Naruto at this point, "Would you like to hear it?"

Naruto shrugged. "Why not…"

"Well-" Kakashi began, but was cut off.

"On second thought, I don't think I want to hear this. In the end, it won't make me feel any better; and it will just end up pissing me off."

Kakashi shrugged as he reached into his pocket, "Suit yourself…" He pulled out his Icha Icha Paradise.

Naruto's eyes widened as he started reaching into one of his pouches. His eyes widened at what he saw, 'I should have two copies of that book! Why do I only have one!' Something suddenly came to his mind…

_"You are here, so we can extract that demon from the seal on your stomach. Not to replay some scene that you've read in **Jiraiya-sama's**book."_

_---Somewhere Far away---_

"Hehehehe, Jiraiya-sama you are truly an artist..." muttered a certain rogue ninja, with a perverted blush on his face, as he gazed over the book.

"HEY ITACHI! What the hell are you doing!"

"Nothing..." he muttered

_---Naruto---_

Naruto clenched his fist, 'That bastard! I can't believe he swiped one of my books! It's official…you can't trust Uchiha Itachi. Who would have guessed?'

**"Ummmm…"**

'Don't answer that…'

He sighed, really wanting to read the book himself, though he would never openly admit it. He reached into the pouch and held the book out for his old sensei.

Kakashi's eyes widened, as he slowly reached for the book, afraid that it would disappear if he went to grab it too fast.

_After a few moments Kakashi quickly grabbed the book from Naruto's hands, slowly studying the beautiful cover, "Icha Icha Makeout Tactics". He continued to gaze at the orange book longingly, before he felt a hand on his shoulder._

_Kakashi turned and saw Jiraiya behind him. The older man nodded, giving the younger man an approving look and nod._

_Kakashi turned back towards the book, and out of his peripheral vision could see his students, all three of them. He saw Naruto in front, with a uncharacteristically happy smile, giving him a thumbs up; Sasuke was behind Naruto, his arms crossed over his chest, giving the boy a smirking nod; and finally Sakura behind both boys, smiling at him._

_Kakashi's eyes widened as he was suddenly surrounded by women, between the ages of 18 and 30, which he recognized from Konaha and even some other villages. They were all cheering, "KA-KA-SHI! KA-KA-SHI! KA-KA-SHI!" In the corner he could see Rin smiling back at him. Images of both Obito and Arashi smiling proudly at him flew into his mind._

_Kakashi slowly opened the book, the moment it fully opened, light exploded from the pages, cutting through the darkness of the night._

_The second the light passed, Kakashi was once again in the real world, and reading his new book with a look of content on his…well in his visible eye._

Not knowing that a certain blonde had also seen his vision, Kakashi resumed reading the new book, whilst Naruto occasionally twitch in annoyance, confusion, …and most of all fear. Only two things were clear, the first was that The fox had nothing to do with this little incident, seeing as how the fox was now shuddering in one of the corners of his cage. The second was that Naruto, would never look at his former sensei the same way again…

---Half an hour later---

Naruto and Kakashi returned back to the 'inn' after what seemed like hours of silent twitching and silent reading, respectively.

Naruto, wanting to go straight to his room, quickly climbed up the wall of the inn, not noticing a certain Tanuki container speaking to a silver-haired swordswoman, that he had come too love as a sister. He continued to shudder slightly as he got to the window, which was nothing more than a paper screen. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to get the mental image out of his mind, as he opened the window and hopped into the room.

Suddenly, eyes still closed, Naruto noticed two things. **1)** The room temperature dropped, dangerously low. **2)** A wave of killer intent hit him like a sack of bricks. The second one was easy to figure out. It was the same wave of killer intent a woman used when they were about to **smite** a pervert, usually Jiraiya. As for the first thing, there was only one person he knew personally that could make temperatures drop so considerably; unfortunately that person was…a young woman.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and noticed a very half-naked kunoichi at the other end of the room. Naruto gulped, his face showing the fear he was feeling, something that hadn't happened in a long time.

Haku, clad in only a blue bra and panties that left almost nothing to the imagination, glared at the Kitsune, "Naruto…", she muttered losing control of her patience, a first for the young woman.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't as he was suddenly bombarded with images from Icha Icha Paradise. 'This is exactly like the scene where Takeru walks in on Hikari and…damn it why did I start reading that perverted book!'

**"NOWS YOUR CHANCE! TAKE HER! TAKE HER NOW!"**

'Your not helping…'

The fox sighed mentally, **"Why couldn't I have ended up with Rock Lee, at least he's shown signs of being a heterosexual! You and Sasuke have got to be gay!"**

'Bite me!'

Noticing the perverted blush in the boy's cheeks, and the fact that he's been here for about three minutes and thirty-two seconds and still hasn't said an apology, Haku did the only thing she could think of at the moment. She grabbed some senbon needles, seemingly out of thing air, "HENTAI!", and threw them all with her deadly accuracy. Naruto fell on the ground, with about twenty senbon needles protruding out of his body at various places. Haku gracefully walked to the bed, and reached into the bag on top of it, pulling out a large blue shirt. She quickly slipped it on, letting the end of it fall just slightly above her knees. She quickly turned back to Naruto, still glaring at him, "You better have a good reason for coming in here…"

Naruto, suddenly finding the drive to speak, quickly said, "I wasn't trying to peek at you I swear! This is the room I always use whenever I use this jutsu! I claimed it earlier, but left to take a walk! Yukina can back up my story!" He said quickly, really hating himself for having to rely on Yukina; but he opted for self-preservation instead over pride. Haku looked at him questioningly, obviously taking into account that he could be telling the truth. "Ummm, my bag should still be in the closet!" Haku turned on her heel and went to go check the closet.

**"HAH! YOU turned into a such a little BITCH!"**

'Go to hell furball!' he snapped mentally, as he started to pick himself up.

Haku sighed as she looked into the closet. She turned towards Naruto and frowned, "I'm sorry Naruto-san. It seems that you were right."

Naruto mentally growled, 'Yea, tell it to my spleen.' Despite irritation, he waved it off, "It's alright…" 'Crap…this hurts…'

"Sit down." She commanded, pointing towards the bed.

Naruto's eyes widened, 'This is exactly like when Takeru walked in on Hikari.'

Haku grabbed her bag from the bed, and threw it on the ground. She grabbed Naruto by the arm and sat him on the bed. She did a few handseals and muttered something under her breath, making her hands glow green. She quickly, and painfully started to yank out the senbon needles.

Naruto shook his head, flinching at the same time, "Really isn't necessary, stupid fox might be a pain in the ass but he's useful for something things. Because of him I heal extremely quickly."

After pulled out the last senbon needle, she quickly lifted one of his sleeves to inspect one of the places where she hit him with a needle. "Hmmm, it appears you're right." She said with a sigh, as she bent down to grab her bag. "At any rate, I apologize for jumping to conclusions. I'll gather my stuff and leave."

Naruto waved it off, giving her one of his rare sincere smiles, "It wasn't the first time I've been accused of being a pervert and it won't be the last. I was trained by, Hatake Kakashi, and even the Sannin Jiraiya taught me a few things." He then took a quick look around the room; Haku's equipment was littered around the room. For about the hundredth time in the last hour, Naruto shuddered at how many senbon needles the young woman truly had. He slowly rose from the bed, "Oh and why don't you take this room. You seem to have already made yourself comfortable, and are basically undressed as it is. I'll just grab my bag and go."

She smiled at him, blushing slightly at the comment of her being undressed, "Thank you Naruto-san."

He waved it off, grabbing the bag at the same time. He opened the door, once again seeing a pink blur out of his peripheral vision. Sweat dropping, he decided to ignore it. He quickly walked across the hall and picked a new room. "I wonder if any other Jinchuuriki's have to deal with perverted demons", he muttered under his breath as he jumped onto the bed.

**"You should have listened to the part of you which read Icha Icha Paradise…"**

'…Not now…for Kami's sake it has been a very long week…'

* * *

**A/N: The Author was nowhere to be found, anywhere. All that anyone could see were Sasuke, Lee, and Shikamaru tied up; struggling to get free. On Sasuke, was a note that read, 'Here's that jutsu list I promised you earlier.'**

_**Naruto's Jutsu Library**_

**Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan (Wood Release Secret Technique: Birth of Dense Woodland)**

**Description: Naruto's first jutsu. Creates a variety of plants that can be controlled through chakra. The First Hokage could use it to create an entire forest, though Naruto uses it to create roots to smash into his enemies.**

**Mokuton Hijutsu: Shokubutsu Funkei no jutsu (Wood Release Secret Technique: Plant Decapitation Technique)**

**Description: Variant of ****Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan. Created when Naruto watched Kakashi use ****Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique). The concept is the same, only Naruto uses a plant to wrap around the target, instead of grabbing the enemy himself.**

**Hayashi Kyū (Forest Coffin) **

**Description: Another variant of the Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan. This was created sometime after witnessing Garra's Sabaku Ky****ū**** (Desert Coffin). It entangles the enemy in roots, instead of sand.**

**Hayashi Sōsō (Forest Funeral) **

** Description: The finishing move, used after ****Hayashi Kyū, much like Sabaku ****Sōsō (Desert Funeral) is the finishing move of the ****Sabaku Ky****ū. The roots that have the enemy entangled, suddenly grows thorns, skewering the opponent.**

**Makai Oni Jin Kuchini Shokubutsu no Jutsu (World of Spirits Demon Man Eating Plant Technique)**

**Description: A Variant of Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan. The user, Naruto, uses demonic chakra to alter a plant into a large purple plant, with a large bulb on top, that is actually it's head and mouth. Has razor sharp teeth. No longer being able to make food through photosynthesis, it has to eat to sustain itself.  
**

**Hayashi Shuushuku (Forest Constriction)**

**Description: Uses a special chakra sensitive plant called, Tsuki Leaves (Moon Leaves) as a weapon. The plant is wrapped around Naruto's wrist, and looks like a Christmas wreath. The leaves on the plant extended and change into vines, which can grow thorns, to attack an opponent.  
**

**Kyuuketsu Shokubutsu (Bloodsucking plant)**

**Description: Uses demonic chakra on the Tsuki Leaves, and turns it into a large plant, which sucks the blood out of an opponent; if not controlled _carefully_, it will turn on it's user.**

**Mokuton Hijutsu: Chakra Hiru Oni Ki no jutsu (Chakra Leech Demon Plant Tree Technique)**

**Description: Variant of the ****Kyuuketsu Shokubutsu, created by Naruto. Uses a similar principle towards the bloodsucking plant, though it sucks chakra, not blood. Looks similar to the Makai Oni Jin Kuchini Shokubutsu no jutsu, though much smaller.**

**Mokuton: Shichuka no Jutsu (Wood Release: Four Pillars House Technique)**

** Description: Naruto creates a large inn-style house out of plants. Naruto has been shown to be able to modify this jutsu using demonic chakra, allowing him to create furniture with it.**

**Mokuton: Moku Jōheki no jutsu (Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall) **

** Description: Creates a half-dome barrier to act as a shield. Yet to have a demonic variant.**

**Moku Bunshin no Jutsu (Wood Clone Technique)**

** Description: A Clone jutsu, very similar to the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique). The main difference is the chakra usage. The Moku Bunshin uses a little more chakra than the Kage Bunshin; however the Moku Bunshin allows the user to distribute _any_ amount of chakra they wish to the clones; Unlike the Kage Bunshin, which distributes all of the users chakra _equally _among the clones. Moku Bunshins can also sustain more than one hit.**

**Makai Oni Moku Bunshin no jutsu (World of Spirits Demon Wood Clone)**

**Description: A variant of the Moku Bunshin. The clones take the form of a purple fox. The body is composed of purple leaves, the claws and fangs formed out of thorns. It lacks the ability to use jutsu; but instead gains the ability of regeneration and the ability to merge with trees.**

**Mokuton Hijutsu: Shokubutsu Henkan no jutsu (Wood Release Secret Technique: Plant Transformation** **Technique)**

** Description: Uses wood elemental chakra, and even demonic chakra, transform a plant into a different form. Naruto's most common transformation is changing a bamboo flower into a bamboo sword, and using demonic chakra to change the bamboo sword into a thorn like sword.**

**Hokage Shiki Jijun Jutsu: Kakuan Nitten Suishu (Hokage-Style Sixty-year-old Technique: Enclosed Hermitage Return to Society)**

** Description: A jutsu solely used and created by the First Hokage, used to reverse the transformation of a person possessed by a Biju. The kanji for 'seat' appears on the persons hands. When Naruto used it on Gaara, it seemed to backlashed on him, not only sealing Gaara's demon but his own as well.**

**Mokuton Hijutsu: Konaha Shurikan no jutsu (Leaf Shurikan Technique).**

**Description: Transforms the leaves on a tree, usually one that Naruto creates himself, and makes them as sharp as iron. Uses them to throw a hail of 'shurikan' at an opponent.  
**

**Mokuton Hijutsu: Rasen Shikyo Shushi (Spiraling Death Seed)**

**Description: A variant of the Rasengan, adding Naruto's Nature (Wood) chakra, into the technique. Merely adding the Wood Chakra into the technique, allows the user to power up the Rasengan considerably. However Naruto was able to focus most of the Wood chakra to the center of the Rasengan. The second that the Rasengan impacts with something, the seed is released, and two seconds later it explodes into large thorned roots. The technique requires the up most concentration to use, otherwise the seed may explode premature, killing the user; even if he does have incredible regeneration.**

**Lack of Kenki (Offensive Aura)  
**

**Description: Not an actual jutsu. Naruto hides his facial features and emotions, behind a warm smile. It blocks out any form of Killer intent or anger that the user may have. This technique makes the users movements a lot harder to read. Naruto was able to create this technique after constant abuse by the villagers, which forced him to survive by simply hiding behind a smile. **

**Everyone turns back to the note on Sasuke. 'That's all folks, please review.'**


	18. Return of the Jinchuuriki

**Disclaimor: don't own Naruto.**

** A/N: I AM SO SORRY, that it took me this long to bring you all an update...i'm even more sorry that this chapter is basically one long filler. I'm even more sorry that the title of this chapter is so damn lame.**

** Ok...before i get one with the story, i have a few things to say.**

**1. this chapter isn't as...well dark as all the others. It's kinda unavoidable for what i have planned.**

**2. The truth is finally known about the real names of the Fourth Hokage and his wife!!! However do to my laziness and short attention span I will NOT be changing it in this story. If i take the time to do that you can go ahead and add another few months to the update time, (and that's IF i use 'WORDS' 'Replace' function...you don't want to know the update time if i didn't use it...wooh.)**

**3. We've also heard the truth about Tobi. I've planned to go a completely separate way with Tobi. Anyone who was familiar with the whole theory behind Tobi will automatically know what i'm talking about...anyone who doesn't, well this will just be one big surprise. As for Madara...there's very little chance that he will appear in my story.**

**4. Pein...he won't be canon. Rinnengan or whatever the hell it's called doesn't fit in with my story ideas and i don't plan to change it because Kishomoto finally decided to bring in the top dog of the Akatsuki. He'll be completely different (if i decide to keep him alive -looks off suspiciously from side to side). Konan...i actually kinda like her abilities so i'll probably keep her canon...more or less. But will these two have any relation with Jiraiya? Probably not. **

** 5. There is no number 5, it doesn't exist.**

**6. Will Naruto discover the truth of this about his parents? Will he ever get along with Yukina? Will he destroy Konaha? All you're answers will be answered...before this WHOLE story ends -grins- somewhere between ten and twenty chapters. **

**7. Against my better judgement, I've decided to add in a little preview to another story I'm writing, in the next chapter. I hope you enjoy that.**

** Anyway...on with the show.**

* * *

**Chapter 18: Return of the Jinchuuriki **

_---A few miles outside of Sunagakure---_

The next morning was simple enough, considering the people that consisted in the group. The group had a quick breakfast, before they took off in the direction of Suna. Out of habit alone, the group was moving at a rather fast pace and kept there guard up…but in reality the chances of them getting attacked were as close to zero percent as they could be. There were multiple reasons this little fact was true, for instance they were in Wind Country, though in reality that wasn't much of a reason for them _not_ to be attacked. Secondly, Kakashi and Gaara were both recognizable when they weren't trying to hide and let's just say that no one would enjoy confronting either one of them, much less _both_ of them at the same time. Akatsuki, after losing Deidara, would be much more cautious in the future…they wouldn't be attacking for a long time now. However, just in case some brainless sap _did_ get the courage to do something so moronic, they decided to keep their senses heightened, and remained on lookout to the area around them. Though you wouldn't believe that they were, from the look of the group.

Naruto and Gaara were in the front of the group, surprising everyone by holding a conversation. Kakashi was right behind the two, partially reading his _new_ Icha Icha: Makeout Tactics and partially listening in on Naruto's and Gaara's conversation. Temari was a few steps behind Kakashi, smiling at the sight of Gaara and Naruto talking. Rin and Yukina were behind them. The former sending dark glares at Kakashi, whilst muttering about his bad habits, and the latter was sending looks towards Naruto, staying silent. Neji was behind the two of them, his Byakkugan making him the main look out amongst the party. Chiyo and Haku were standing behind him, both had looks on their faces that only illustrated that they were most likely in deep thought. The final three members Lee, Sakura, and Rei were brining up the rear, and though it looked like they were just idly talking, they were more than prepared, just in case they were attacked.

Naruto sent Gaara a sly smirk, "So you managed to overcome the bastard huh?"

The Kazekage just nodded, keeping a passive look on his face, "In some sense. Though he seems much more relaxed at this point, and exponentially much less aggressive. I even dozed off for a few moments last night, and he didn't even _try_ to attack me."

The blonde just shook his head, "That's both a good thing and a bad thing. If he's anything like the retarded fox in my head-"

**"Hey!" growled the Nine-tails.**

"-you'll probably end up regretting the fact that he's helping you…in one way or another."

Gaara blinked a few times.

**"Harem, Bitch!"** **Squealed the demon raccoon-dog.**

Resisting the urge to attack his naval with the nearest rock, the Kazekage just nodded, "I'll take your word for it." Then red-head then gave the blonde a passive look…which, in _Gaara's facial-language 101_, was the equivalent of a smirk, "Out of my own personal curiosity, how is…_that_ jutsu coming along?"

Naruto grinned at the comment. On one of the rare times that the two Jinchuurikis were alone, they talked somewhat… One of the subjects was some jutsus that the two were trying to create, through their own unique nature manipulation. The particular jutsu that Gaara was referring to was one that intrigued Sand-nin to no end. Mostly because Gaara has a similar jutsu and is increasingly anxious to test Naruto's version against his own.

The Blonde just gave him a smirk, "Haven't had much time to develop it further…but don't worry I'll get it done."

Gaara nodded as he turned his head, "It appears that we have almost arrived."

Following his gaze, Naruto turned to see the Village Hidden in the Sand, in the distance. It was a sight to see… To the east of the village…sand.

To the west…sand.

Beyond the village, more likely than not,…sand. However, the village itself was quite lovely, for a village surrounded by…sand.

The rest of the trip to the hidden village was made in silence. At a more relaxed pace, it took the group a little over ten minutes to make it. They were immediately greeted by Kankuro, Baki, and a few older people that composed the council of Suna.

Gaara turned to Naruto, "It appears that this is where our groups must part, unless I am able to convince your party to stay here and recuperate for the night?"

"Unfortunately we are hard pressed for time, Kazekage-sama." Explained Kakashi, with Rin nodding behind him.

Gaara nodded and then turned back to Naruto. The two shook hands. "Thanks for helping me back there, Gaara."

The redhead just shook his head, "If you weren't there to aid me in the initial battle with the traitor Sasori and the stone-nin Deidara, I might have been the one captured. In this respect, let's call us…even."

Naruto nodded back, as both of them withdrew their hands. Temari and Chiyo passed Naruto, the former giving the boy a pat on the shoulder, "Try not to get your ass kicked again, blondie."

Naruto turned around, seeing that Kakashi and Rin had disappeared, "Take care Sandman!" he called out before he disappeared as well. Everyone belonging to the Leaf group gave their own farewells as well, before disappearing as well.

Gaara just shook his head in amusement before turning towards his group and home. He would be sure to pay Naruto back for that 'Sandman' crack. He looked towards Kankuro and Baki, who smiled back at him, before walking back towards the Gates. That's when he paused. At that point he started sweating bullets and shaking somewhat. This reaction immediately caused Temari, Kankuro, Baki, and the rest of the council to become alert, never having seen their brother/charge/leader act this way.

The boy blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. When he realized that this wasn't a mirage, he prayed that it wasn't a Genjutsu. That hoped turned to despair the moment he remembered that his sand would usually fluctuate whenever there was a Genjutsu placed on him.

So…with all these likely options out of the way, he was forced to conclude that this was real.

The sight before him was one that he would normally show disinterest in, though at this moment, thanks to a certain perverted demon inside of his head, it filled him with horror.

Temari raised an eyebrow at the scene, "What's with all the girls?"

Gaara flinched at the sentence as he looked upon the horde of girls before him. He paled considerably, as the demon started sending him mental images that he really would have preferred not seeing.

** "HAREM BITCH!"**

_---Outside of Wind Country---_

A few days after Deidara's death… 

Sasori, the puppet master, appeared next to a small _forest_ of thorned plants. He just stared at them for a few moments. "Deidara, your remains…will forever linger among these plants…which have the ability to remain on this world for an eternity." Suddenly his faced twisted into a cruel smirk, "Just like all _true_ art."

"You couldn't resist getting that last jab in…could you Sasori-kun?" Sasori actually grinned as he saw Zetsu literally just appear from the plants. **"Though let's face it, the fool probably had it coming."** Though the words came out of Zetsus mouth, the voice seemed much colder than before.

In an almost childish way, not accustomed to Sasori's passive nature, he merely responded, "He's dead, I'm not, and that means I win."

Zetsu sweat dropped. If Deidara were still alive, that would be the equivalent of slapping him with a glove and declaring war. That is actually something he could see Deidara doing, but not Sasori. 'Must've gotten hit, one too many times in the head.'

"And because of your idiotic attitude, we lost our chance to absorb the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

Sasori and Zetsu turned to see two new figures walking into the clearing. The first was a white-haired man with a muscular build. He wore his Hitai-ate around his neck. Like most members of the organization Akatsuki, he wore a long black cloak, which was decorated by red clouds. The most unusual thing about this one was that held a large three bladed scythe in his hands. The second man was completely covered from head too toe. The only thing that he revealed was his eerie green eyes. He also wore the cloak, which labeled him as an Akatsuki member. He wore his Hitai-ate around his forehead. The oddest things about him were the four masks sewn into his body, hidden by his cloak.

Sasori sent the white-haired one a glare. "Watch yourself newguy, otherwise I'll have myself a brand new scythe wielding puppet."

The man glared at Sasori with contempt.

Zetsu got in the way of the two, naturally being one of the main mediators in the organization. **"That's enough Sasori"**, he turned to the other man, "From you as well Hidan-kun. We will _not_ fight amongst each other. Leader won't accept it."

"The hell with the _leader_!" snapped Hidan, still glaring at Sasori.

Sasori glared right back at Hidan before turning to the other man, "How do you deal with this one Kakuzu?"

The green-eyed man shrugged, "Give the bastard a few people to mutilate, that usually puts a smile on his face. Keeps him calm for at least a few days."

Though he would never admit it to his partner, that small thought calmed Hidan down somewhat. It almost put a smile on his face.

"**ENOUGH!"** Everyone turned towards a fuming Zetsu. He turned towards Hidan and Kakuzu, "Did you locate your target?"

Kakuzu, not trusting Hidan to speak, decided to do so, "The rumors seem to be true. Kumo has a two-tailed Biju, sealed inside of a kunoichi."

"And…why haven't you hunted this person down then?". Zetsu seemed to glare at Kakuzu. **"Don't tell me you were off doing **_**more**_** useless shit…"**

Kakuzu shrugged, "Remind me, would you rank turning in my bounties as useless shit?" The glare Zetsu gave him was an obvious affirmative answer. "Then I was ummm…laying around and basking in the sunlight, or whatever the hell it is you dandelions do." Kakuzu replied calmly.

Zetsu glared at Kakuzu, choosing to ignore the insult, **"You have much more important things to do than collecting bounties!"**

Kakuzu just waved off his glare, "Relax, I'll get to the damn mission."

The_two_-_faced_ member of Akatsuki glared at the man.

Sasori himself was getting rather annoyed at the display, "I thought you said you were bringing me a new partner?"

Zetsu turned to Sasori and nodded, "That is still being taken into consideration, though the boy is rather skilled…"**"I have my doubts as to whether he has what it takes."**

Sasori resisted the urge to glare at Zetsu. In truth, the man's…_bipolar_ nature was getting on his nerves. At times he wasn't sure if Zetsu actually had two personalities, was crazy, or was just trying to fuck with him. Either way, the very act was getting irritating. "Where is he?"

Zetsu looked up towards the sky, "He should have arrived by now…where could he be?"

_---In a village at the outskirts of Wind Country---_

A few hours earlier… 

The streets were busy and incredibly dangerous in the rather large village. Multiple people were wandering the streets, a few carrying large wagons. Unfortunately this left the elderly in a very awkward position. One old woman in particular was having a difficult time. She was on the side of the road, contemplating whether to attempt to cross or not. She was leaning on a cane, having great difficulty in her age trying to walk very quickly. In this heat, someone was liable to simply knock her out of the way, instead of waiting for her to move herself. She was already late as it were, she thought as she wiped away sweat that was collecting on her brow. She sighed to herself for the hundredth time, whether to cross or try waiting to see if the roads would clear up a bit. After a moment, her resolve of the road clearing dropped considerably and she decided to try her luck. She moved her cane on the dirt road, as she stepped down from the sidewalk. The moment her foot touched the ground, she heard it.

"STOOOOP!"

She, and everyone else on the road stopped when she heard the deafening scream. She wouldn't be surprised if everyone in the village heard it. She turned towards the voice to see the oddest of men standing on a rooftop. He wore a long blue cloak around his body, covering most of it and an orange mask with a spiral pattern on his face, with what looked like a hole around where his right eye should be. He was doing a very odd pose; his hands were on his hips with his feet being shoulder length apart in some sort of super hero pose. After a moment he jumped off the building, going unnecessarily high into the air, before landing right next to the old woman. Everyone was still staring at him in shock.

He looked straight at the old woman before holding his hand out for the woman, "Oba-chan, please allow me to guide you across this treacherous street."

The old woman, too shock to register most of this simply gave him her hand, and allowed him to help her cross.

They came upon a man who was just standing in the way, as was everyone else in the vicinity…still in to much shock to do anything else. With superhuman strength, he grabbed the man with one hand and tossed him over his shoulder, before muttering, "Excuse me", as the man crashed into a nearby building.

Ignoring the fact that he probably just killed someone, the old woman just smiled at him, "Well aren't you the sweet one! The world would be better if it were filled with more young men like YOU!"

"Naahh…" he replied waving off her compliment. Everyone who was now in their way was quickly – frantically – getting out of it.

"Nooo…really." She said beaming, as the two reached the sidewalk, not noticing that everyone was currently keeping their distance. "You're such a good boy."

"Naah…"

"Grandma!"

Tobi and the old woman turned towards the sound of the new voice, it was a young woman no older than nineteen. Tobi watched the woman. Brown hair, blue eyes, hourglass figure…then he mentally slapped himself, 'If I don't leave now I'll be late.' "I really must be going now…"

Not hearing the man, the old woman smiled at her Granddaughter, who was at the moment trying to analyze why her grandmother was with this weird man. "Kiyone, this person is a very nice young man. He helped me across that very busy street when no one else would."

Kiyone turned towards Tobi, repressing a blush. 'I wonder what he looks like under that mask…I wonder if he's a shinobi.' This time she did blush, "Thank you for helping my grandmother…"

Tobi smiled, though you couldn't see it through his mask, "My lady, it was a pleasure to help your grandmother!" he declared. What he didn't notice was that the man he had thrown over his shoulder a few seconds ago was coming up behind him.

"YOU ASSHOLE! WHAT WAS THAT-" he was cut off as a fist, from Tobi, sent him flying backwards and into a conveniently placed dumpster.

Tobi gave the ladies a good-guy pose before saying, "Now my ladies…I'm afraid I must take my leave!" He quickly flashed them a thumbs up, before pumping his fist into the air, "TOBI! AWAY!" With that Tobi disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Kiyone gave the position, where Tobi just disappeared from, a blank look.

The old woman just sighed, "Now why can't _you_ meet a nice young man like that?"

Kiyone just sighed as she led her grandmother home.

_---Outside of Wind Country---_

"He should have arrived by now…where could he be?"

POOF

They all turned towards the sound of a small explosion of smoke. When it cleared they found Tobi staring back at them. "YO! Sorry I'm late…you see I was helping this little old lady cross the street."

Everyone sweat dropped, glaring at the masked figure.

Zetsu's eye, in the black side of his face, twitched. **'Well**_**you**_** do call him a g**_**ood boy**_**.'**'Mind your own business dumb ass.' Not questioning the fact that he called half of his personality a dumbass, he glared at Tobi, before sighing and tossing him something."Just take that Tobi-kun. It's your initiation into our ranks."

Tobi looked at the object in his hand. A ring with the Kanji for _Seiryū, the Azure Dragon_. "Sweet! When do I get my cloak and hat!"

Zetsu simply tossed him a folded cloak, tied by a thin string. "No hat I'm afraid."

Tobi's eye widened, though you couldn't see it behind his mask, "B-b-b-ut. I thought it was part of the costume!"

Zetsu glared at him, **"For the last time, it is not a costume so stop calling it such. And only Itachi and Kisame wear those ridiculous things. If you want one, then buy one."**

Tobi nodded, resolving to do just that, before wrapping the cloak around his body, "So what's the first order of business."

Sasori turned around, regretting that he ever asked about this idiot, "The first order of business for me is to stock up on more puppets. I've only got about another 89 left and they are all weak."

Tobi nearly face faulted at the number, '_Only?_'

Zetsu nodded, "Sasori-kun is your new partner Tobi-kun." **"When you're done with your job, go hunt down the three-tails. We already gave Sasori the location." ** He then turned towards Kakuzu and Hidan, **"And you two find the two-tails."**

Kakuzu nodded in boredom. Hidan glared at Zetsu, "What about reclaiming the Nine-tails and grabbing the One-tail?"

Sasori turned towards Hidan, "The Container of the One-tail seems to be able to draw upon much more power than ever before. His chakra signature was massive, and he seems to have the ability to gather a lot more of the One-tail's chakra. With him being inside of Suna and surrounded by desert, he will be close too impossible to obtain. The Nine-tails is in Konaha, he will also be much more difficult to obtain as well." He then turned towards Zetsu, "Besides, Zetsu…why don't _you_ go hunt down Uzumaki? He seems to be stepping on your territory."

The two faces of Zetsu grinned at this. It was true; Uzumaki was walking inside of _his _territory. He would need to be taught a lesson soon enough.

Sasori then started turning away before disappearing in a swirl of sand. Tobi flashed everyone a Good-Guy pose, before an explosion of smoke engulfed him.

…

…

Unfortunately he didn't get far. When the smoke cleared, it revealed Tobi, still in his Good-Guy pose, standing in the same position. Tobi looked around in confusion, "Damn, this always happens at the worst possible moments." Another explosion of smoke engulfed him. It took a few moments to clear and to reveal that he was in fact…still there "Damn it!" he muttered as multiple explosions of smoke covered him.

POOF

POOF

POOF

POOF

Kakuzu just stared on in amusement while Hidan's eye was seriously twitching, and Zetsu was cradling his head in his hands. Smoke kept exploding from Tobi's position, a new burst of it coming out every half a second or so. Hidan's hand kept getting dangerously close to the scythe that was strapped to his back, but immediately halted when he realized that killing/maiming/decapitating/eviscerating this…idiot would in fact probably be an insult to the great Janshin-sama.

POOF

POOF

POOF

It was a full twenty seconds, from the time that this little show started, before they heard Tobi scream, "HEY I GOT IT!", screamed the masked man in joy. When all the smoke finally cleared, he was indeed gone.

'Perhaps Tobi was not the best choice…' **'For once we agree…'**

_---Hokage Tower---_

The eight Konaha-nins and one Konaha sennin (hermit) walked into the Council Room of Konaha. The ninjas of Suna already left the company a few days ago. All members of the Konaha council were there already…and half of them were _pissed!_ But not at the rescue party who went to save the _demon_ of Konahagakure, they had made their peace with that. No…they were enraged by the actions of a certain heiress and the assistance of the Hokage. The woman in question flashed the group a sly smile, not even caring for the fact that she was being cast a few glares on the side.

The group of nine walked in front of the Council and stopped, all except the ninth member of the group all took a few extra steps forward. He flashed all of them his famous smile, the one that had the power to freak out even the toughest of shinobi. In reality, his mood was anything but happy. After the Gaara left the group, his mood had immediately dropped. He didn't know why, but being around the other Jinchuuriki was just so much easier than being around regular people…though frankly, one look at Kakashi or Lee should make one reconsider what his definition of…_regular_ is exactly. Though he did enjoy Rei's and Kakashi's company, everyone else was just awkward or annoying…once again he took a quick glance at Lee. Ignoring all of this, he figured he might as well see why the hell he was dragged all the way here instead of being able to rest up after three days of constant torture, a battle against an, albeit severely weakened, S-class missing-nin, and a two day sprint to the village. He raised his hand up, "Yo!"

Tsunade smiled at him, 'It's nice to see you again.' That is what she wanted to say. But since she was currently in front of the Council, she felt it wise to save that for a later time. She would also be beating him severely for letting himself get captured, but that could also be saved for later. "Uzumaki Naruto! You are here for a debriefing on what happened, from the time you were captured…to the time you were rescued. Please proceed to explain what happened."

He momentarily considered fliping the Council off, but felt it wiser to give the older bastards what they wanted…for now…"Sure Oba-chan!" He beamed, making Tsunade glare at him. "First I woke up in a similar setting too Chapter 14 of Icha Icha Paradise…", at that point he received a glare from most of the Council and a blush from a few of them, "…unfortunately instead of the ten woman, their was only Uchiha Itachi…it was really a bummer to be honest with you, gonna have to speak with that old Perv about this, I feel cheated-"

"Just the facts, Naruto…" Tsunade said, glaring at him dangerously.

At that point, he realized that the Homura, Koharu, and Danzo of the Council were all glaring at him as well. "Oh yea, sorry. Well anyway, a few days later they started the extraction process. It looked like I was going to die, but then I was saved by Gaara at the last minute. Afterwards Whiskers, along with all his chakra, went back into the seal and I guess to try to save itself, Whiskers-"

"Excuse me Naruto…" Tsunade interrupted, a look of confusion etched one her face, "…But who the hell is _Whiskers_?"

Naruto shrugged, "The fox…", he said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, which made everyone go wide eye. "Well you see, I don't respect the idiot enough to call him by his real name…and I'm tired of calling him furball and fox bastard and asshole and moron and retard, so I figured Whiskers would suffice", he paused for a moment to catch his breath, "At the time I threw out Mr. Fluffy-wuffle-sins." At this point everyone was blinking at him. Naruto mentally patted himself on the back, he loved leaving people in a state of utter confusion…there was a odd sort of pleasure within it. He was just glad that the fox was currently sleeping. He wasn't in the mood for the bitching out he would have received otherwise. "Anyway, I woke up, felt like burning off some steam, so I asked Gaara to allow me to take care of the Akatsuki member who preformed the extraction process, I think his name was Kimblee or something. Anyway I defeated him easily enough and then returned here with these guys." He said pointing towards the group that came to rescue him.

Homura nodded, "Anything else…_unusual_ happened?"

Naruto shrugged, "You mean besides ninjas that can grow trees on a whim, manipulate exploding clay, and control puppets made out of real people? No can't think of a thing." He commented. 'What? Want me to say something more about Kyuubi…tough luck baka!'

Koharu glared at him, "Besides things like that, anything…out of the ordinary?"

Naruto shrugged again, "I saw an odd cloud that looked like the old man Hokage stabbing a bunch of old retards that I've never liked…", he said with amusement in his voice

At that point one of the Council members released a miniscule amount of Killer intent…felt by everyone in the room. Naruto didn't look like he even cared, which infuriated the man even more. "You know what I mean you…Uzumaki, anything happen with _your_ demonic chakra?"

He resisted the urge to flip him off, on the inside thinking, 'I received two tails of the Kyuubi's chakra supply. However since it has been purified, it doesn't seem grant me any increases in strength or speed, which really pisses me off and takes almost all the fun out of using it, however I have a larger chakra supply than all of you bastards combined, four times over, HAZZAH!' "Nope…can't really think of a thing."

Koharu seemed to stare at Naruto for a few moments, before nodding and waving him off.

Naruto mentally patted himself on the back again, one good thing about using 'masks', was that it made him a great liar. He'd give Kakashi, and maybe Tsunade, the heads up later…

Danzo turned to the Hokage, "He gave his report, I believe that we are done with this one…"

The blonde resisted the urge to flick him off as well, 'What am I a fucking dog?'

Tsunade nodded, "Naruto…until I say otherwise, you are to stay inside of the village. No leaving for whatever reason. Until then, you are dismissed."

Naruto nodded as he walked out of the room, 'should've known this would happen. Oh well, it really won't make much of a difference for now.' The two ANBU who were guarding the door, closed it behind him.

**K "Wait close to the door."**

'Why?'

K "You have to wait for the Pervert either way, and I want to hear what's going on."

'Whatever…Hey! Wait, when did you wake up?'

**K "Just as the big-breasted blonde dismissed you, now shut up!"** he snapped as he started concentrating demonic chakra to Naruto's ears.

_---Council Room---_

"Hatake, Report!"

Kakashi mentally wanted to scream out loud and tell them they were all fools. One rule in interrogations, was that you should always split up the party being interrogated and asked them questions individually, just in case they were trying to hide something, they'd most likely get there stories mixed up. This was something that was drilled into his head from his days in ANBU, and was shocked by the fact that these people would forget such a crucial rule, especially someone like Danzou. But perhaps they just didn't think that far ahead, or Tsunade overruled the idea, or maybe they just didn't care. Kakashi took a quick glance around the room, half of these people looked bored out of their minds, the other half were probably too angry to think straight. Though not Danzou…these traits didn't personify him… Kakashi shrugged with boredom, opting to think about this more later, "It basically happened how Naruto mentioned it did."

Homura raised an eyebrow, "Exactly?"

He shrugged once more, "One thing he failed to mention was that when the Extraction process was interrupted, there was an explosion of Demonic Chakra." Most of the Councils' eyes widened at this. "He probably didn't notice because, almost immediately, the seal on his naval reabsorbed the chakra and the soul of Whiskers-"

"Hatake-san, stop playing along with the allusions of _that_…_child_…and henceforth refer to the demon as the Kyuubi." Spat Homura.

Kakashi sighed, 'I really liked the name Whiskers…'

_---Outside the Council room---_

**K "You called me Whiskers?"** growled the fox.

'Yes, now shut up! I'm trying to listen…' he scolded, though in his head he was laughing.

K "The fates are sick bastards for putting me in this position…Kami, I wish I could kill you." the fox continued muttering curse words. 

_---Council Room---_

"Anyway, the demon was absorbed into the seal almost immediately, so I guess he just never noticed."

Koharu's eyes narrowed, "How can you be so sure? Did you see this occur?

Kakashi shook his head, "I was attempting to apprehend the Rogue Ninja, Uchiha Itachi, while all this occurred. The Kazekage was the one who filled me in on all the details."

Everyone nodded at this. Though some wondered if the Kazekage himself could be trusted…being a Jinchuuriki himself.

"And did _you_ notice anything odd?"

He shook his head again, "Well…I did see the same cloud he mentioned earlier…"

"Odd with Uzumaki!" the same Council member as before practically screeched causing most of the younger ninja to flinch.

Tsunade glared at him, releasing a small amount of killer intent, causing the man to settle down a bit.

Kakashi mentally grinned. The Council was already used to his lazy, 'whatever' attitude when it came to the all 'important' questions from the 'mighty' Konaha Council. However it seems that they weren't used to another ninja having the same attitude, a.k.a. Naruto. This small fact was illustrated by the Koharu's outburst. He mentally patted himself on the back, it wasn't like they would ever discharge him. He was one of the village's strongest ninja, not too mention he knew over a thousand jutsu. They couldn't discharge Naruto either…they weren't _allowed_ to execute him, thanks to a certain grandfather and frankly having a demon container stuck in the village wasn't in there best interest… "Hmmmm, nothing odd at all, in my opinion. Though the kid's pretty weird in general, so you can't really gage when something is wrong with him."

Tsunade nodded, "I believe that will be all Kakashi-san, you are dismissed, as are the rest of you."

Kakashi nodded as he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, followed by the rest by the rest of the group that went to help Naruto. In truth he really didn't know what happened to Naruto, neither did the rest of the group, save perhaps Gaara who chose not to reveal anything. He would be questioning Naruto about it later and give a_private_ report to Tsunade.

_---Outside the Council Room---_

**"Son of bitch!"**

'Stop whining.' He smiled as he noticed the two ANBU at the door were glaring at them. 'Wonder if they'll be as fun to fight as Deidara was…hmmmm' Just as he was musing with these thoughts, the door to the room opened ushering Kakashi's group out. He turned to Kakashi, and waited for him. 'At least the old bastards aren't trying to find a way to punish me for some bullshit reason.'

The fox grinned at that…

_In his mind, Naruto quickly found himself back inside of the Council Room._

_Koharu stood up and pointed at him, "Uzumaki Naruto, for your crimes as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, we the council of Konaha hereby Banish you from the village!"_

Naruto blinked, 'Are you high? How would that be a punishment?'

**"Hmmmm…."**

_Naruto quickly found himself back inside of the Council Room, once again._

_Koharu stood up and pointed at him, "Uzumaki Naruto, for your crimes as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, we the council of Konaha hereby order that you be burned at the stake, dismembered, and stabbed by kunai."_

Naruto shrugged, 'That's worse…but it still wouldn't be as bad as having to spend my **entire** life here…'

_Naruto quickly found himself back inside of the Council Room, yet again._

_Koharu stood up and pointed at him,__"Uzumaki Naruto, for your crimes as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, we the council of Konaha hereby order that you be promoted to Jounin and take on a Genin team!"_

_Naruto's eyes widened as he heard the door behind him open. He turned to see the Konahamaru Corps standing behind him. "HEY BOSS! YOU'RE GOING TO BE OUR JOUNIN-SENSEI!"_

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"_

"-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" It was at this point that he realized that he was actually screaming out loud. He opened his eyes to see Sakura and Rei standing in front of him.

Sakura was glaring at him and Rei was looking at him with indignation. Sakura started poking him in the chest, "If you didn't want to go with us to Ichiraku, a simple 'no thank you' would have sufficed." She said as she walked passed him, Rei following close behind muttering something about ni-san…

"Asshole…", Sakura muttered before they were out of earshot.

Haku just walked pass him with a smile of amusement playing on her features, Rin was behind her. Neji just shook his head and walked off as well. Rock Lee gave him the 'good guy' pose before running off after his old teammate. Yukina walked up to Naruto, but was stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulders. It was an ANBU, "Yukina-hime, Koharu-sama and Homura-sama have asked that you remain behind. They wish to speak with you."

Yukina nodded, knowing that this would be coming up.

Naruto didn't seem to listen as he just walked off with Kakashi.

_---Council Room---_

"That boy is much too dangerous! You must allow me to place him inside of ROOT! That way _I_ can control_ it_!"

Tsunade gave him a look that said, _Are you kidding?_

Koharu glared at the woman, "You must allow Danzo to keep the boy in check, otherwise his power will be the death of us all!"

Tsume snarled at both of them, "And whose fault is that? If things had been different, the boy could have become the guardian of Konaha with the power of the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

Inoichi sighed sadly to himself, "The psychological term for this situation is a **self-fulfilling prophecy**. The villagers have treated him like a demon his entire life, and in fact that may be what he will become. Perhaps it would be best for us too keep him in check."

Shikaku stared at his old teammate incredulously, "What are you saying trying to say Inoichi?"

The blonde sighed, rubbing his head, "As much as I dislike the idea, perhaps we should consider exiling him from Konaha, keeping him as far away from the village as possible."

The Hokage stiffened slightly as she heard this. In truth Naruto himself would probably enjoy that. However she was still hoping beyond all doubts that Naruto would stay in Konaha. In truth, there were only two things that kept _her_ in Konaha. Those two things were _her_ 'children', Naruto and Yukina. Though with Naruto on the road all the time, hell she only spent a few weeks with the boy as they were journeying back to Konaha, that just left her with Yukina, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but she would prefer it if Naruto were with her as well.

"Absolutely not!", screamed Homura as he glared at Inoichi. "That would be far to much freedom for him. He already fought and defeated an S-class missing-nin. He'll become even more powerful and come back to destroy our village. We must keep him in check!"

This argument continued on in this direction, Tsunade listening to everything intently. This was going to be a long meeting.

Danzo however, smirked from his position. More likely than not, he wouldn't win this 'battle'. However, he would be winning the war. He was determined to take control of Uzumaki. 'Sarutobi was a fool! He stopped me from claiming Uzumaki once already, but he cannot defend him anymore. I have everything I need to take control of the demon container. Tsunade's and Sarutobi's foolishness have put them against a wall. I will have the demon container or it will meet it's untimely demise…'

_---In Konaha---_

Kakashi and Naruto were both standing outside of a rather large house. The trip here was rather uneventful. Like old times, Naruto was glared at by multiple people, and like old times, he gave them his patented smile, which angered/scared them even more. Kakashi was reading his new book, which Naruto presented to him. Every now and then he would giggle out, muttering _genius _or_ absolute art_!

The blonde sighed as Kakashi opened the house and entered, Naruto following close behind him. Naruto walked into Kakashi's living room and plopped down on the large couch. It was a nice house, from what he could see. A huge living room, with a large couch, a loveseat, and a Lay-Z-Boy adorning it. The walls were decorated with multiple paintings, and the there were many potted plants around. In the corner he could see a small doorway, which seemed to lead into the kitchen. And then there was another, on the other side of the room, which led into a hallway, probably towards the bedrooms.

Kakashi went to one of the paintings, before moving it to the side slightly. He did a quick handseal, which made an intricate seal glow in the previously blank wall. Kakashi quickly replaced the picture back to its original position, effectively hiding the seal. He then turned towards Naruto…taking a good look at the young man….

Even though the boy was sure to resent it, he really did look like a mirror image of his father. The major differences being Naruto's whiskermarks and his hair, whilst the Fourth's hair was spiked up, as was Naruto's when he was younger, his now seemed to fall down around his head. It was weird…it was as if Naruto's hair finally decided to obey the laws of gravity. The older man blinked, realizing that the boy was currently eyeing him in boredom, "Ok, now we can speak freely. I have a few questions I need to ask you."

Naruto nodded, letting his smile fall, "Ok, shoot."

The Jounin smiled, under his masked, at his old student, "So you've started reading Icha Icha Paradise huh?"

The blonde face-faulted from his position, which was quite a task considering that he was sitting down, but quickly regained his composure, as he glared at his former teacher. 'All the fucking questions to ask me and he starts with the perverted ones.' His eye started twitching dangerously, "Yea…so…"

If possible, Kakashi's features became even more amused, "What got you started on the series."

The blonde clenched his eyes shut, and started breathing out heavily, before opening them again. 'Kami I want to beat him', but shrugged it off knowing that his teacher wouldn't leave him alone otherwise, "When I left Konaha, I discovered something about myself."

"Really? What?"

"Leaving Konaha didn't help." He declared simply. "I still wanted to come back here and tear people apart with my bare hands." Ignoring the fact that Kakashi was still smiling, which actually started to freak him out, he opted to continue, "Anyway, a few weeks after I left, I walked into a book store to find some novel to read, casually. That's when I found one Ero-sennins perverted books near the front of the shop. I decided, 'what the hell' and bought it. Though the book was the epitome of all things perverted, it did serve the use of calming me down. Don't ask me why, but reading those stories actually helped me alleviate some stress that I've been carrying throughout my life." Sighed the blonde. "I honestly believe that if I hadn't picked up that novel that day…I probably would have killed everyone in this village by now, or at least died trying to."

Kakashi nodded, ignoring the boy's homicidal intentions, "Yea, it's been pretty therapeutic for me as well."

Naruto stared at him skeptically, "And that's the _only_ reason you read it, right?"

"You'd be surprised how many times reading this simple, yet extremely perverted novel, stopped me from doing something that I'd probably regret the next day."

The blonde shrugged, "It's apparently helped Uchiha Itachi."

"What?"

_---On the corner of Earth Country---_

"Achoo!" sneezed the elder Uchiha, as he continued reading the book that he_borrowed_ from the Kitsune-container. He turned back to his Shark-like friend, who was currently fighting six Iwa Jounins. Due to the fact that the two HAD to remain as inconspicuous as possible, leaving Kisame without his high-powered jutsu, and the fact that they were in the middle of a thick forest, leaving Kisame little to no room to use his Samehada, the Mist-nin was actually breaking a sweat, trying to use nothing but Taijutsu and a kunai. He actually felt bad for his teammate. Kisame fighting like mad, using methods he hadn't used in years and Itachi sitting on a tree branch, concealing his presence and reading the latest volume in the Icha Icha series. He had told Kisame to fight them off and that he would wait until he saw an opening to kill them all in one swipe…

…and the dumb ass had actually fallen for it.

He looked back at _his_ book. Then he looked over at Kisame. Then over at his book. Then over at Kisame. Then over at his book. The Uchiha shrugged before muttering, "He'll be ok…" With that he continued reading his book

_---Kakashi's house---_

"Itachi reads Icha Icha Paradise?"

Naruto closed his eyes and crossed his arms, "I have reason to believe that the bastard stole a copy from me when they captured me."

Kakashi blinked, before his face showed utter amusement, "And you think it's been therapeutic for him as well?"

"Has he massacred any other clans recently?"

"Point made."

Naruto stared straight at the silver-haired Jounin, "Anyway…" he started trying to emphasize the word as much as possible, "Were there any _real_ questions that you wanted to ask me?"

Kakashi nodded, looking at the blonde seriously, "Why did you come back with us so easily?"

The blonde looked up at the ceiling, looking like he was trying to find a way to phrase his answer, "Multiple reasons. Some say I may miss Konaha and the people in it. Some say I may be trying to find more info on my estranged parents. Others may say that I want to spend time with my sister and friends." He turned towards Kakashi smirking, "And they're all full of shit!" Kakashi sweat dropped at that simple comment. "There are multiple reasons, but the two are these. First, I'm out of Tsuki Leaves. I've been needing to replenish my supply for a while now, and unfortunately Konaha is the best place to do that in. They are almost none existent anywhere else." Kakashi nodded, accepting this answer. "Second reason is that I need a stable, or at least a _more_ stable, environment to train. Not to mention that _you_ promised me more scrolls and Shizune promised me another book on genetics-"

Kakashi's eyes widened, "_You_ are reading up on genetics?" It didn't make any sense. Genetics was Medic-nin stuff, wasn't it? Naruto just didn't seem like the type to care enough to become a Medic-nin.

Naruto nodded, "It's how I've been creating new forms of plants." Kakashi stared at him in surprise before nodding.

However the man immediately raised an eyebrow, "Ok…but why do you need to be in Konaha to train?"

"Contrary to what may or may not be popular belief, I've been trying to lay low for a long time. Developing my **Mokuton Hijutsu: Rasen Shikyo Shushi **was a really dangerous thing for me to do, because it uses so much chakra. However, with a decent amount of control and the fact that when I was developing it I was in a pretty remote region, I was able to do so without drawing too much attention. The jutsus I've been trying to develop at this point are in no way shape or form, stealthy. The fact is they'll probably be screaming out to every shinobi, and their mother, within a mile, _'Here's Naruto! Just follow the trail of chakra!'_. Though I did attempt the techniques on a few occasions, I pretty much had to immediately move to a new spot afterwards. The old perv told me to keep a low profile or I'd be caught, such a bother." Scoffed the blonde. "Anyway, I figured that since you would want to bring me back to Konaha, and would most likely _not_ be taking no for an answer, that I might as well take advantage of the situation and use some of these assholes, who reside in the village, as guards while I do a little experimenting with these techniques." Kakashi sweat dropped at the small explanation. "Anyway with the few times I attempted to create them, I haven't had much luck. I'm hoping that with further mastering my Water and Earth chakra, that I would be able to pull it off." He looked up, checking the time by the position of the sun in the sky. "My chakra control could also use a little training as well, most of my jutsus use far to much chakra at the moment." 'Though that really shouldn't be a problem anymore…' mused the blonde, referring to the fact that he had two full tails of chakra stored away in his chakra coils.

Kakashi nodded.

Kakashi stared at Naruto intently, "That night when we camped out, I felt a large amount of chakra coming from you, was that one of your techniques?"

Naruto nodded, "I was bored and decided to give it a try. I knew those retards wouldn't try to attack us again so soon, not after what I did to the blonde freak, so I didn't see any point in really hiding myself…not to mention the fact that Gaara and I were so close together."

Kakashi nodded. Though it was an exceedingly dangerous move on Naruto's part, it was true that Akatsuki would not try to apprehend him again for a while. And any ninja, aside from a few Konaha-nin who knew better, after feeling such a strong and evil chakra would most likely steer clear of it. "Anything else?"

Naruto grinned, "A few reasons that I prefer to keep to myself, for now at least."

The copy-nin glared at Naruto, before nodding, opting to leave him be…for now, "So tell me about these jutsu."

The blonde shrugged, "How about I show you one of them?"

Kakashi nodded at this, "Ok…but I have one more question first. What really happened between you and the Kyuubi?" Naruto's facial expression shifted to one of utter amusement. "I noticed that your chakra level seems to have risen exponentially. What _really_ happened?"

The blonde smirked at the man. "To save my life, the Fox was forced to give me two full tails worth of his chakra."

Kakashi's eye widened at that proclamation, but it quickly narrowed, "Was the chakra purified first or is it still demonic?"

This time Naruto's eyes widened, "How did you know that the seal purified the demon's chakra?"

Not changing his facial expression, not that you could really see it in the first place, Kakashi just said, "The Fourth…" 'Probably best to refer to him by title for now on.' "…was my sensei. I know how the seal works."

The blonde nodded, "Then you'll probably be happy to know that it's been purified." Kakashi released a breath that he didn't know he had been holding. "However there seems to be some side effects."

Kakashi's eye narrowed again, "Side effects? Like?"

Naruto nodded, "Not quite sure yet. I'll have to figure that out through training, though I honestly don't think that he has any malevolent intentions."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Malevolent? I see that you've also been training your vocabulary as well." He thought back to earlier in the conversation…Naruto's vocabulary had indeed been changing.

"Bite me!" Kakashi smiled as he gestured for Naruto to get back up, "Oh, and I hope you remembered to get me those scrolls."

Kakashi nodded as they both headed outside.

_---A few blocks away---_

Haku sighed as she sat down on the large sofa, finally resting her screaming muscles.

Rin smiled at the girl as she handed the much younger kunoichi a drink, "You've gotten rather strong Haku", Haku smiled at the older ninja, "I may have been able to heal all of your exterior wounds and many of you other injuries, but you suffered a few bone fractures and muscle tears that neither Sakura nor I were able to heal." Rin closed her eyes for a moment, "Which reminds me, you need to go to the hospital soon…with the proper tools I should be able to fully get you fixed up."

The younger girl just sighed, "Honestly it isn't too bad, I'll probably be alright after a few mores hours of rest."

"Better not take any chances," said Rin as she shook her head. "I'll make an appointment for you for tomorrow." The older woman sighed as she sat down next to the younger girl. "It seems that Hoshigaki did a number on you", the woman said with a frown. "I should have stayed and fought alongside you, instead I wasted my time fighting some…" the woman growled as she thought of that Tobi person, "…instead I wasted my time fighting that fool, and you ended up getting hurt."

Haku shook her head. "You shouldn't blame yourself, we all had our roles in that last mission. Besides I had Neji-san with me."

Rin nodded at that, though she wasn't nearly as confident in Neji's abilities. 'The boy is indeed very powerful, but the fact that he's only allowed to learned the fighting style and jutsus of the Hyuuga Clan are seriously holding him back.' "Neji…he told me that you and Hoshigaki seemed to have a grudge match going on."

Haku clenched her eyes shut upon hearing those words, "I've already told you about this…about my history with _that_ man."

The older jounin nodded in remembrance, "Yes…I remember now. You mentioned that Kisame, the leader of the Seven Swordsmen, was the one who convinced the other swordsman to turn against the Mizukage."

The girl nodded, "That day two of the swordsman lost their lives, as well as many of our allies. I was only seven back then and couldn't even fight." She clenched her fist shut, "So many lives lost…and in the end that man was the first to run away."

Rin just shook her head. "It's funny, from the reports I've read of him, he never seemed like the coward-type."

The ice-maiden narrowed her eyes, "He isn't! He's just a sadistic bastard, that doesn't care about anything but himself. He started that coup out of boredom, and nothing else. And when he realized that either way, it would severely crush Kirigakure's power, he decided to just leave!"

"And I thought Kakashi had a short attention span", the woman mocked. "So he realized either way he wouldn't have the power he desired. Either he would die during the coup, or he would gain control of a Ninja Village that would no longer be able to call itself one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations." The woman sighed at the ridiculous attitude, though saw she did see the logic behinds his actions…though the very little logic it was. Rin's eyes widened for a split second as she heard something outside…it was a hawk. "Seems I have to leave."

Haku immediately rose to her feet, but just as quickly froze as she clutched the side of her hip, freezing up in slight pain. Within seconds Rin was beside her, checking her out. "I'm surprised that this injury didn't give you trouble during our tip back…" the woman stated calmly. With a sigh she turned, and prepared to leave, "Go to the hotsprings for a few hours, they'll help you recuperate."

"But-"

"That's an order Haku." She said sternly, though the smile on her face masked that, "I'll let you know what happened during the meeting…now go!"

The girl nodded, knowing it was futile to argue with the older woman. She just turned and decided to grab a change of clothes. As the girl was entering her room, her sensei called out to her, "Haku!"

Haku immediately paused and looked back at the older woman.

Rin looked at her with steady eyes, "You desire to make Kisame pay for what he did to the Seven Swordsman?"

Without thinking, Haku immediately nodded. She did want to make Kisame pay for his actions. Hell, she was hell bent on proving that old saying,_'Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn!'_

The older woman winked at her, "You should consider doing it as a swordswoman, not just an ice-jutsu user." With that said, Rin exited the room, leaving Haku with a blank expression on her face.

'She wants me to become a swordswoman? She wants me to gain enough experience with a sword to use it in combat against a man who's been fighting with one for at least thirty years? Is she seriously expecting me to beat him in a sword fight? It'll be easier to wait until he dies of old age!' Haku thought to herself. Her sword training was almost non-existent. She used to hold Zabuza's sword and swing it around quite often, and the man did try to teach her how to use an old worn out Jian he found once. But that was it! That accumulated to probably five or six hours of sword handling…against Kisame's thirty years. "Zabuza-sama…what should I do?"

_---Training Field---_

Naruto and Kakashi arrived at the rather obscured training field. Kakashi nodded towards the blonde, asking him to begin.

Naruto grinned as he did a few hand seals. A plant erupted from the ground. It was basically like Naruto's man-eating plants, except for a few minor details. The 'stem' towered above the ground at about fifteen feet, though it slouched a bit to Naruto and Kakashi's height. The head was in an irregular shape, almost as if it were some kind of weird hand. The basketball sized, bulb split near the end for about half a foot. Four pointy 'teeth' protruded out the top of the 'mouth' and another four from the bottom. It looked like some kind of weird, saber tooth…plant.

Kakashi turned towards Naruto with a bored lookk, "It's slight variation, but I have seen it before Naruto."

Naruto waved him off and he placed his hands into the 'Dragon' seal. "Use your Sharingan", ordered Naruto. Kakashi shrugged and did as he was told. At that point the plant's mouth opened wide. Kakashi waited for a while, not seeing any changes. Suddenly his eyes snapped open widely. Chakra began forming at the center of the plant's mouth!

Kakashi watched as a marble-size amount of chakra gathered in the plant's maw. It began to slowly get bigger, but that wasn't what surprised him the most. The chakra was spinning. **Spiraling**.Within seconds the plant held in it's mouth a fully formed **Rasengan**. Kakashi analyzed the plant with his Sharingan. It was indeed a perfect **Rasengan**. He blinked a few times upon seeing it.

"Crap…" muttered the blonde as the sphere began to destabilize. It only took a few seconds before he lost complete control and the **Rasengan** blew up, blowing up the mouth of the plant with it. The two nins jumped back, easily dodging the flying remains of the entity. Naruto turned to Kakashi with a smirk, "Imagine that, but with about fifty plants, all of them surrounding an enemy nin."

Kakashi nodded, "I'd hate to be the one you test that on." He said with his eyes turning into an upside down smile.

"Don't worry, there are plenty of people that I would prefer to test it on."

The Jounin, seemingly ignoring the comment, "You really _are_ getting powerful Naruto." He then looked momentarily serious, "However, you seemed to be stepping into the Ninjutsu-specialist field. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, but from the little I saw in your fight, I noticed that your physical strength was lacking and your Taijutsu just plain bites. The only thing you really have going for you is your speed."

The blonde nodded, ignoring the impulse to curse out the Jounin, "Yea I know. I've been mostly working on creating new techniques for my**Mokuton**. I DO work on my speed, though it's usually when I'm sparring with multiple **Moku Bunshins**. I have been trying to work on both my running speed and my _sealing_ speed. I've also worked on my Kenjutsu, though it _could_ be a lot better. Unfortunately my Taijutsu has taken a back seat." The blonde finished explaining, before asking, "I hate to sound like a broken record, but did you get those scrolls for me."

"It'll take me a while to gather the scrolls that you will need, I'll try to get them to you by tonight." Naruto nodded, "Oh and before I forget…"

Kakashi threw him something. Naruto caught it and looked at the object, "A key?"

He nodded, "Your apartment building was condemned. Everyone who lived there moved away, including Haku whom I believe is sharing an apartment with Rin. Anyway, I have an empty room, so I thought I'd help you avoid the headache of trying to find a place to live."

Naruto nodded as he pocketed the key.

Kakashi then stared at Naruto deeply. "After that, I do have an idea. I can teach you a certain Jutsu that can speed up your training."

The blonde was instantly interested, "I'm listening…"

"The technique is called **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**. It's a clone technique, which creates solid clones, much like the**Mizu Bunshin **and the** Moku Bunshin**. However, every time you use this technique, your chakra is divided equally among the clones, it's because of this that makes the technique a Kenjutsu. However they do have a special ability, which makes them useful for training. Everything a clone learns during its existence is instantly learned by the user of the jutsu when the clone is dispelled or destroyed." He was about to continue, but was interrupted.

"Is that it?"

Kakashi's eye widened somewhat before looking at the blonde in annoyance. 'He probably doesn't understand…' Before he could try to explain it to the blonde again, Naruto held up a hand.

"**Moku Bunshin no Jutsu** possesses a similar ability."

Kakashi eye widened a bit, he gave the blonde a questioning gaze.

"I have some kind of mental link with all my clones. Kind of like, being connected with telepathy, which is why I can communicate with my clones so effectively. So anytime a clone of mine learns something, that clone automatically sends me the information through our link, which I in turn send through the same link to the other Wood Clones." Naruto finished his explanation.

Kakashi nodded in understanding. "Let me guess, you used this same training method to create _your_ altered version of the **Rasengan**?" Seeing the boy nod, he decided to continue, "And you haven't been able to use this training method on your other jutsus, for fear of gathering to much attention?" Naruto again nodded. Kakashi smiled at that, 'Naruto really is beginning to think more intelligently.' "Hmmm, it seems that the **Moku Bunshin** can be a really useful technique. Too bad I can't copy it, it seems much more useful than **Kage Bunshin**."

Naruto shrugged, "Depends…how much chakra does it take to make a Shadow Clone?"

The Jounin shrugged, "That depends directly upon your chakra control…but it would be miniscule at worst. However, as I stated earlier, using the **Kage Bunshin,** causes _all_ your chakra to be divided evenly among the clones."

Naruto nodded at this, "I see. Wood Clones require a decent size amount of chakra, just to use. Probably about the size of a B-rank Katon jutsu, afterwards you have to _decide_ how much chakra the clone will receive, or they'll be limited to Taijutsu."

"I see…Shadow Clones a destroyed after one hit, how many hits can Wood Clones take?"

"A few, though they can use chakra to regenerate themselves, though that uses up a hell of a lot of chakra. However if they catch on fire, they are basically all but destroyed."

Kakashi nodded, "Your technique seems to have the potential to waste a lot more chakra, though at the same time it can save a lot of chakra…" He paused when he looked up at the sky. There was a hawk in the air, which was flying in circles. 'ANBU meeting…hmmm…' "As much as I would like to continue comparing techniques, I have somewhere to be."

Naruto nodded as well, "Works for me…perfect time to start on that training."

Kakashi paused a few steps away. He turned back to his blonde charge. "Naruto…why do you train so hard? What's your purpose?"

Naruto grinned at that. "To fight all these bastards that seem to want me dead for whatever reason at all. You said that there were ten of them, I killed one so there should be nine left."

The cycloptic ninja just stared at him. "To defeat the Akatsuki." He muttered with a nod, "What next?"

The third mokuzaimusha cocked his head to the side, "Are you trying to ask me if I'm going to destroy Konahagakure?"

The jounin just looked at his charge with an impassive look. "What are your ambitions…dreams of the future?"

Naruto smiled as he shut his eyes, before opening them again. "I won't destroy this village…like I said before I honestly don't care enough to bother. I'll only attack those who attack me first. As for dreams of the future." Naruto once again shut his eyes, "Back then, when we first became a team, I didn't actually have one. Now I know what I want to do…"

Kakashi raised a visible eyebrow. The blonde was actually opening up about something rather personal. He revealed that he liked a pornographic novel, normal. Revealed things that happened with his inner demon, normal. Revealed his intentions to basically fuck up anyone who attacked him…a little crazy, but normal. But this was his actual dream. Kakashi was actually curious as to what the boy had planned. Did Naruto desire to become the strongest ninja in the world? Did he intend to become a wanderer for the rest of his life, and stay away from Konaha forever? Would he settle down somewhere, start a family in a country and village where no one knew him? What did he want? What were his dreams? His desires?

"I…want…to…" Kakashi leaned in to listen to Naruto's desire. "…open up a chain of Hotels."

Kakashi immediately face-faulted.

Naruto just grinned at the man's reaction. "Come on, **Mokuton: Shichuka no Jutsu**, is perfect for that. I'll open up a bunch of Hotels throughout the Elemental Nations, and hire some people to deal with the hard part…like maintaining it and collecting rent. I can make large inn-sized houses out of pure chakra, fully stocked with furniture. I'll just come by every now and then to collect my share of the profits. I'll make money, without spending a dime. Then, after a few years, I'll retire to some beautiful island, with fifty hot maids, dressed in **Ame**_(**A/N: I didn't want to use the 'word French', but that's what I was going for)**_maid uniforms! HAHAHAAHA!"

**K "HELL YEA!"**

Mid through Naruto's rant, Kakashi found the strength to lift himself off the ground. He threw a grin at the boy, "Using a jutsu to make a profit, Yamato is going to be so jealous that he didn't come up with that idea first." Though that wasn't completely true. What many people don't know is that the Yamanaka flower shop, as well as flower shops all over Hi no Kuni, receive all their rarest plants from one source and one source alone. That source happens to be a good friend of Yamato, or Tenzo as his closest friends know him as. Yamato grows the plants and his friend acts as the middleman, both of them carrying out a 70-30 percent split respectively. Kakashi turned to walk away, but before getting out of earshot, he called over his shoulder, "Make sure to save me a room, I'm considering early retirement."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Getting lazy on me already?"

Kakashi just shook his head as he walked away, "I am twenty-nine years old…but between you, Sakura, and Sasuke…I feel like I'm eighty." And with that, Kakashi disappeared through the trees. Naruto nodded and walked of himself.

The blonde shrugged at the man's response. "Always something…Oh well." Naruto stretched his arms out. This was a perfect opportunity to carry out some of that extra training he's been wanting to do. He grinned to himself...there would be no need for him to hold back.

_---Kazama Estate---_

Yukina calmly and elegantly walked into her father's former mansion, giving a small nod to multiple maids and butlers that greeted her. Although she ahd been able to keep up the noble image that had been engraved into her head, she was currently feeling anything but benevolent. The…discouraging words given to her by…oh fuck etiquette, the bitching out she received from Koharu and Homura had been mentally and emotionally draining on her. It wasn't until Tsunade had called them back for a private meeting that she had been allowed to leave.

She didn't even care for the fact that she was still sweaty and in her combat gear. She just plopped down on her bed and intent on sleeping through the rest of the day.

"Yukina-hime."

The Heiress' eyes fluttered open and immediately caught sight of one the maids that worked for her. "Hello Ryoko…how are you today?" Out of all the maids in the mansion, Ryoko was definitely her favorite. Probably because she was the only person there that was under the age of forty. The twenty year old woman was the closet thing Yukina had to an older sister and mentor, that didn't involve any political instruction or decapitating an opponent with a blunt kunai.

The older woman gave the girl a kind smile, "I'm fine, thank you for asking. You look tired…"

The girl nodded from her position, "Long mission." Was her simple reply, not wanting to say anything regarding the Council.

Ryoko merely nodded, obviously accepting her answer. "Anyway, I just wanted to quickly tell you that you're grandparents have been in town for the last two days."

Yukina's eyes widened slightly at the proclamation. "Are they?" This would be a perfect time for them to have some kind of interaction with Naruto. Sure…she herself had a few moments talk with the boy…in which he insulted her intelligence more than once and proclaimed his hatred of her multiple times. 'But he did thank me for coming to help him…that counts for something right?' She immediately snapped out of her musings when she realized that Ryoko was still in front of her. "Thank you Ryoko", the girl yawned, rather obviously.

Ryoko, taking the hint, bid her mistress a farewell before walking out of the room.

The heiress sighed, before she lying back down. Perhaps if her grandparents were to become close to Naruto, it would make it easier for her to become closer to him as well. Maybe…

_---With Naruto---_

The rest of the night was uneventful for the Jinchuuriki of Konaha. He continued training alone in the forest. Thankfully no one bugged him, until Kakashi came back. Kakashi just sat off to the side, watching the boy train himself. Kakashi did help him by putting multiple seals around the area that would make it harder to feel demonic chakra that was inside of the seal. Naruto really didn't care, but Kakashi was greatful that he didn't have to deal with people complaining about feeling the Kyuubi's chakra.

Unfortunately he didn't get anywhere in his training. He would have to continue experimenting with handseals and his chakra manipulation. Maybe after he received the scrolls from Kakashi and the book from Shizune, he'd be able to get somewhere in his training. After he became tired out, he and Kakashi returned to the latter's home, for a long rest.

He would need to find a way to overcome his current limitations if he had any hope of fighting of the Akatsuki.

_---The next morning---_

"Naruto!"

The boy's eyes immediately snapped open when he heard someone calling his name. Lifting his head off of the surprisingly comfortable pillow, he called out, "What!", he snapped at Kakashi's loud noise.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see you immediately…after you get out of bed, go to her office immediately."

The boy sighed, resisting the urge to curse out both Kakashi and the old hag. He just sighed and immediately lifted himself off of the bed.

_---The next morning, Hokage's Officel---_

The blonde calmly walked into the Hokage's office, though on the inside he was anything but calm. 'Why the hell does she want to see me so soon?' She couldn't possibly be expecting him to do a mission, so soon after having been back in the village, could she? 'That wouldn't make any sense, with the Akatsuki still lurking around…she must just want to talk or ask me something.' Naruto nodded, though was still curious…though only for a moment. Kakashi must have informed her of the fact that he absorbed two tails of the demon fox's chakra. She's probably just going to question him for a bit in an attempt to make sure he's still completely himself. He nodded to himself, completely satisfied with his conclusion. He'd figured he'd just flip her off a few times, call her an old hag, bring up mid-life crisis, and make an off comment about 'sagging'. That ought to prove to her and anyone beyond a reasonable doubt that it was indeed him, so he could get back to his training

He immediately saw Tsunade behind her desk, and Jiraiya off to the side. He was slightly surprised to see neither Shizune nor Sakura, whom he had heard were Tsunade's personal aides. Feeling his innate impatience rising, he desired to voice his confusion in the most regal matter he could, "What the hell do you want, ya old hag?"

Jiraiya held his breath as Tsunade's eye began to twitch dangerously. Though lucky for Naruto, he would be spared Tsunade's wrath...this time at least.

The older woman, for her part, just flashed the boy a sickening sweet smile which actually started to make _him_ uncomfortable. "Naruto I have a very important mission for you-"

Naruto's eyes widened momentarily… 'A mission! You've got to be shitting me!'

"I need you to protect a pair of very important people."

"What!" it was more of an outburst, than an actual question. Normally he would out right refuse such a mission, but his senses told him that Tsunade would make a big protest about that, so he decided to try and actually reason with the woman, using logic. "Why the hell would you want _me_ of all people on a mission to protect people? You do know who is after me right? Come on you old bat, you're not that old!"

Jiraiya grinned at Naruto's outburst…this was just to amusing and they hadn't even gotten to the best part yet.

Tsunade just continued grinning, "No need to worry, according to Jiraiya's spy network, two other Jinchuuriki have been found and as well as one of the Bijuu. They'll have most of their forces split up to capture those targets and they won't attempt to come after you as long as Jiraiya and the samurai are with you."

Naruto just stared at her in confusion, "Samurai?"

The woman nodded, "The VIP's elite bodyguards…even though we do provide the man with his own shinobi bodyguards, he does have a set of body guards known as the Samurai…" the woman started scratching her chin, "Though hell, considering they always wear robes into battle and carry around Sansetsukons instead of katanas, they are more like monks in my opinion…but that's neither here nor there. Anyway the group are strong, many able to fight off trained Jounin."

Something started bugging Naruto at this point. Personal guards…Private Shinobi guards…and Sansetsukons… He immediately pushed it to the back of his head though. "If this big shot has his own army and this annoying overcompensating pervert-" he said pointing at Jiraiya, the man in question glaring at the boy, "-then why in the hell are you sending me!"

Tsunade shrugged, "Well the man asked for you specifically."

At this point a red light started shooting off in Naruto's head. Someone specifically asked for him. That didn't sound right… 1. he didn't know many rich people who were important enough to have personal guards, 2. any that he may have met either hated him for being the container of the Kyuubi or he pissed off by being the little bastard that he enjoyed being…the latter being a passion of his. So who the hell could this asshole be…

'Ok…so who the hell do I know. There were the aristocrats in the council, though none of them would want _my_ protection and none of those bastards are important enough to have there own shinobi guards...no matter what they want to tell themselves. There are the clan heads, though I don't know them personally and they never would hire me to protect them…some may have their own personal guards, though none of the clans I know of use three-piece staffs as weapons…hell as far as I know, no one uses Sansetsukons in Konaha besides-' Naruto's eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

Tsunade and Jiraiya started snickering, wishing that they had a camera to capture Naruto's expression.

'…Yukina…and her grandparents are important enough to have that kinda entourage…' Sensing the fact that he was about to be screwed over, he immediately glared at the woman "NO WAY IN FUCKING HELL!"

Tsunade's grin widened, which seemed impossible at the time, "Sorry brat, ya got no choice in the matter."

"What the hell do you mean I have no choice in the matter! Fucking send someone else!"

The woman shook her head, "Like I said, your participation was a direct request from the Lord of Hi no Kuni…and to be frank kid we have a simple policy when dealing with this man, and that policy is, 'What ever he wants, he gets.' Keeps everyone happy." 'Well, except several representatives from the council, but that's moot.'

"But you don't want the Lord of Hi no Kuni to get attacked by the Akatsuki do you?" the boy pleaded.

Tsunade waved off his concerns, "The Akatsuki actually seem to avoid the Lords of various countries for whatever reason. Besides, with Jiraiya and the Samurai around, the Lord will be perfectly fine. It's only a plus that you and Yukina will be accompanying him."

Naruto's eyes widened, 'YUKINA! Oh hell no!' He decided to try the pleading bit once more. "And what if he is taken hostage?"

The woman nodded, "A possibility, but its one that he's willing to take…though like I said, with Jiraiya around it shouldn't be a problem."

"I refuse…"

Tsunade glanced at the boy in boredom, "I'm not giving you a choice."

"I don't care what you say, I'm not going on the 'mission'!" stated the boy flatly.

"Let me put it this way brat, you only have three choices. The first is follow my order and go on the mission."

Naruto nodded, giving the woman a dirty look. He wasn't going to go through with option one.

"The second is for me to assign you non-stop D-rank missions for a whole year!"

"What!"

"You refusing to go on this mission is going to give Konaha hell, and more importantly me! So to reciprocate these feelings, I'm going to assign you non-stop D-ranked missions for a whole year...what's not to get about it."

Naruto's eyes narrowed…that was not an option.

"The third option is that the Council begins seeing you as a disobedient little bastard and decide that you need to be put in jail until you become more compliant to the duties you agreed to carry out the moment you accepted that hitai-ate."

Naruto continued giving her a dirty look. This was not something that he needed to deal with. Three choices, each another screw over. Unfortunately he had to say that the lesser of the three evils was spending a few weeks with the grandparents and sister that he desperately didn't want to get to know. Of course there was option number four…He could always become a missing-nin…but then he'd have to deal with Konaha hunter-nin and, because of there alliance, Suna hunter-nin as well. Though he didn't doubt he could avoid or defeat the hunter-nin, he didn't want to have to deal with Jiraiya or his thrice damned spy network… 'Stupid bastard could probably find me in a village full of a million Jinchuuriki, but when its time to find a group of missing-nin causing trouble across the Elemental Nations, he can't do a damn thing!' Speaking of which, the Akatsuki and any other punks that wanted to give him trouble were still around, he honestly didn't know why he had to deal with so much crap…but he was bugged a lot during his little training excursion, luckily not by the Akatsuki, but by a whole bunch of punks that just seem to bother him for no reason at all…but that's neither here nor there.

So his options were, an undetermined amount of time with some old guy, and his sister, who would probably try to bond with him; useless missions for a whole year (which probably included more than one a day); imprisonment for an undetermined period of time, which considering the people he was dealing with, could be anywhere between a week to the rest of his life; and leaving the village and having no protection (meat shields) from the Akatsuki.

In other words…Naruto was shit out of luck…

"Fine, I'll do the fucking mission…but I'm only guarding this guy and that's it!"

Tsunade nodded, "Him AND his wife."

The boy nodded, immediately exiting the room to go back to Kakashi's place and…pack his things… He didn't even know how long he was going to be away, but knowing how shitty his luck had been lately, he naturally assumed that it would be for a couple weeks, minimum.

Tsunade and Jiraiya watched the boy leaving the room, mumbling a bunch of things to himself and though they were unsure, they thought he said something about…'sagging'.

Jiraiya snicked slightly, "Wow…he's really pissed off."

The woman shrugged, "It's to be expected! I'm just surprised he took it as well as he did."

The man nodded, as he left to do some last minute research before going on this mission that he too was forced to go on. He paused for a moment at the door. "And what do we do about the Uchiha."

"Which one?" was Tsunade's lazy reply.

"The younger one."

The woman sighed, "If he has deserted Orochimaru, then were should consider it a blessing. We'll deal with him if it comes to it."

Jiraiya nodded, "I think your apprentice wants him to return to the village."

The woman nodded, "As do I. Konaha could really use the Sharingan in the years to come. If it comes down to that, he can return...after a serious punishment."

Jiraiya smirked, "Just try not to castrate him...we kinda need his bits and pieces as much as he does."

Tsunade nodded, as Jiraiya walked out the door.

_---Kazama Manor---_

It had been a few hours since the girl had heard the news. Yukina smiled as she finished packing her bag. She supposed that the 'lady-like' thing to do would be to have her servants pack them for her…but you really couldn't be careful with ninja supplies. Not to mention that none of them had the knowledge to seal items into scrolls, which really saved space and made things easier to carry.

Looking over her supplies, she was satisfied with what she had. She just wanted to make one quick stop. Walking out of her room, she quickly entered her father's private study. This mansion was her and Naruto's inheritance…though it was obvious that Naruto probably wanted nothing to do with it. This estate was perhaps one of the most expensive pieces of land in all of Konaha, rivaling the Hokage's mansion and the Hyuuga Compound…yet its worth was nothing compared to what was held within the safe in her father's study.

She sighed as she went to one of the various book cases in the study and pulled out a dusty brown book. Immediately some unseen mechanism activated and a panel on one of the walls immediately slid open, revealing an iron safe. Unbeknownst the any potential thieves, the safe contain multiple seals to protect the contents that were inside and, in one case, destroy it if it should ever be tampered with by anyone other than a blood relative of Kazama Arashi. Yukina smiled as she bit her thumb, drawing blood, and wiped some of it on the black knob, which acted as its combination lock. A red seal immediately glowed on the knob. Immediately, Yukina immediately began entering the long sequence of combinations. Twenty-five numbers total, between 0 and 100. It took her a little under a minute to get it completely done. She opened it and looked inside at the contents. Two scrolls and two kunai. She reached for the kunai, marveling at the special three-pronged blade. She began fingering it for a moment, thinking, but after a moment, placed the kunai back where it belonged. It would be safer to give her brother his inheritance while he was here, safe in Konaha where he could learn the legendary technique safely. She closed the safe and sighed, taking a moment to wipe the blood of the knob with a hankerchief, and quickly walked over to the book and placed it back in it's proper place, closing the panel hiding the safe...it was about time she attempted to learn the technique as well...though she still believed she needed more training in the art of Seals. She turned and walked out of the room quietly…and right pass a figure cloaked in the shadows.

The figured grinned as she held a vial with a red liquid inside of it.

_---At the village gates---_

Naruto sighed as he appeared by the gates. He saw a large carriage, one he assumed his grandparents were in…that was fortified by the fact that multiple 'samurai' were surrounding the carriage.

Seeing Jiraiya off to the side, he decided to go stand next to him.

Jiraiya looked at the boy with amusement, "You don't seem happy to be here."

"Go to hell…"

Jiraiya continued looking at the boy in amusement. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Yukina walking towards the group, or more precisely towards the carriage. One of the guards opened the door to the carriage, allowing the girl to elegantly slide in.

Before the door could close, Takeru waved Naruto over. "Naruto, please come sit with us."

Before he could answer, Naruto suddenly was aware of multiple sets of eyes on him. The bodyguards, his grandfather, his grandmother, Yukina, Jiraiya.

Naruto just flashed the man a fake smile, the fact that the man was acting so casual with him seriously bugged him. "If you don't mind…I really would prefer to walk."

Takeru gave a small nod, before sitting back in the carriage, his face somewhat disappointed.

The Jinchuuriki sighed to himself as he saw the carriage begin to move, Jiraiya ushering him on…this was going to be a long few weeks.

_---In the darkness---_

Danzou smiled at the four objects he had in front of him. Two were Kazama Arashi's very special Kunais, and the other two were the scrolls depicting the technique the Kunais were used for. Aside from him, there were two others in the room, a man and a woman each dressed in ANBU armor.

He reached for one of the scrolls and immediately began reading the contents.

It only took him a few moments before he shut the scroll in frustration. He grabbed the second scroll and hobbled over to the nearby fireplace.

The two ROOT member's eyes widened as he tossed both scrolls in the roaring fire.

The male quickly got up, "Danzou-taichou!"

The man immediately glared at his subordinate for forgetting his place. The younger man quickly went back down in a kneeling position.

Danzou quickly went back to his seat and carefully sat down. "Tenchi…" he began addressing the young man, "…were you aware of the fact that our beloved Fourth Hokage had attempted to teach both of his living students, Hatake Kakashi and Hayabusa Rin, his **Hiraishin** technique?"

"Ummm…no sir I wasn't aware of that…"

"Oh yes…it happened after his third student died during the war. Unfortunately, they ultimately failed in achieving even the tiniest bit of progress. Hayabusa perhaps would be excusable…but Hatake was and still is a genius ninja. For him to not be able to learn a technique is…unbelievable."

Tenchi nodded, "But what does this mean sir?"

"As I just confirmed with the scroll, Arashi made the seal required in the **Hiraishin no Jutsu** out of samples of his own blood. He of course tried to get Hayabusa and Hatake to use there own blood as well in making there own seals, but they still failed. Back then, I knew that Arashi had attempted to teach Hayabusa and Hatake how to perform the **Hiraishin** and that they failed…back then I assumed that it was something in Arashi's blood that allowed him to make such a seal, and the scroll confirmed my assumptions about the blood."

"Do you mean like a bloodlimit sir?"

"Indeed…it is something in his blood, something tiny that will probably never manifest itself into anything that will be corporal. But it stands to reason that Arashi was able to create and master the **Hiraishin** because it was in his blood. It is very likely that his children inherited this ability, which is why it was dire that I burned the scrolls."

The woman looked up, "But…"

"Uzumaki is far to wild to control, for now. The girl has become disobedient…if Homura and Koharu weren't watching her so closely, who knows what her soft heart would make her do", spat the elderly man. "What a weak child."

"But aren't you planning on taking control of Uzumaki?"

"Even if I control Uzumaki, it would be very stressful if he were to have access to THAT Jutsu. If he were to break free of his leash, I would be forced to kill him, which would become exponentially more irritating with Kazama's technique."

Both the woman and the man nodded at there leaders reasoning.

Danzou grinned, 'Besides, with my photographic memory, its not like the technique is completely lost forever.' He chuckled to himself before looking over at the woman. "Ryoko, did you plant the evidence?"

Yukina's 'maid' nodded, "Yes sir, if all goes according to plan, then Sound will get blamed for the robbery and Yukina-hime will be blamed for her carelessness."

Danzou nodded, "For security purposes you are to report to our base of operations at the edge of Kaze no Kuni. You are not to return here until I tell you otherwise."

The woman nodded, "Yes sir!" She then disappeared

The elder man then turned to the younger one, "Leave me!"

Tenchi nodded before disappearing as well.

Danzou looked over at his desk before opening a folder.

**Uzumaki Naruto (**A picture of Naruto was at the top

**Rank: Chunin. Jinchuuriki**

**Status: Wanderer (**the word Wanderer was scratched out and next to it was written**) Active.**

**Bloodlimit: Mokuton.**

**Known Techniques: Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan…**

And the list went on and on. Danzou picked up a pen and began jotting something down, under "Known Techniques".

**Ability to Hide Offensive Aura?**

**Greater Chakra Supply?**

**Combining Form and Nature Manipulation?**

How useful spies were…

He smiled at the picture of the blonde ninja. It was odd. These thoughts…it suddenly reminded him of a time when he was but a child. They reminded him of times when he used to want certain toys and beg his parents to go get them for him.

Danzou smiled at those memories. If only it was that easy to get his toys now.

_---Somewhere far away---_

Zetsu sighed as he leaned against a tree. He was beginning to curse Pein for gathering this specific group of ninja for their plans. Konan he could deal with, she was easily the simplest person to get along with. Both Itachi and Kisame were alright as well, though they had there moments. He absolutely hated Hidan, Kakuzu, Sasori, and Deidara. They were all walking time-bombs in his opinion, ready to blow at any moment, and to top it off they all had there own annoying quirks and habits…like Kakzu with his un-satable love for money, Sasori and Deidara for there annoying arguments about art, and Hidan for his sadistic nature, and his cursing, his constant spouting of Jashin this and Jashin that…ok so maybe Hidan was slightly worse than the others. At least Deidara did something to help the situation…he died. Now, through some lapse of judgment, he decided to recommend Tobi…Kami only knows what annoying quirks Tobi would have.

It was at that moment that Zetsu finally understood the cause of all his migraines over the past few years. His allies…his brothers (and sister)…the people he has bled with…he has fought with…the ones he put his life on the line with…all of them…his teammates…

…they are all assholes.

Zetsu cradled his forehead in his hands. It was for these reasons and more than Zetsu was thankful for the fact that the group of them rarely met. Hell, his meeting with Sasori, Tobi, Hidan, and Kakuzu may have been the first time he himself met with so many of his comrades in many years. Lucky for him that Pein usually dealt with his annoying recruits.

It was times like these that he wondered why he ever joined an organization like Akatsuki…

…but earlier today he had remembered. It was a rather simple statement by one of the assholes he worked with.

"…_why don't **you** go hunt down Uzumaki? He seems to be stepping on your territory."_

Zetsu grinned.

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

They were two very different men, though they shared a similar profession.

One was an outlaw, who was wanted for murders and all kinds of charges around the Elemental Nations.

The other was an old man, a high-ranking Council member for what is revered as the Greatest of the Ninja villages.

But at that very moment…for only a second, they both had the same thoughts in mind.

"**Uzumaki will be mine!**_" _

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**A/N: i hope this chapter was to everyone's satisfaction.**

**Let's see, I'm praticing my Jedi Mind trick...let me see if it works.**

**YOU WILL REVIEW! **


	19. Failed Swords

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Otherwise, you people would have to wait a hell of a lot longer for an update (on both manga and anime).**

**A/N: Long time coming. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. Keep in mind the simple fact that I planned this story out before a few things came to my attention…like the fact that three years training with Orochimaru would make Sasuke a freaking god. Other than that, enjoy.**

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* * *

Chapter 19: Failed Swords**

The shark man could only watch in slight amusement as their leader was glaring bloody murder at the woman deemed, _"God's angel."_

All the figures were in a cave, though only one other, beside himself, was corporal. The other four were mere holograms, a form of communication for the nine ninja. The blue skinned-man truly did wish he had a snack right now. The leader had never so much as glared at the woman, now he looked about ready to kill the woman. Even though it wasn't her fault as she was just reporting a simple fact, though that didn't make this any less amusing for Kisame, since it appeared that Pein was about ready to shoot the messenger.

It appeared that two of there own, not coincidentally two of the three missing from their little meeting, had declared that they would seek out the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Though if that were simply it, the news would simply be infuriating. The major issue involved Kakuzu's last known transmission; a type of telepathic communication involving the Akatsuki rings. Kakuzu's, and by extension Hidan's, stated that they acknowledged the order to track down and capture the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Since there had never been such an order, it meant that someone had been able to hack the jutsu that connected all nine of the Akatsuki rings.

It didn't take a genius to figure out whom that person was, the simple fact was that there _weren't_ nine rings, but ten. And what's worse was, that the rings worn by the missing two ninja seemed to be blocked somehow, as if the proverbial phone line was busy. So communication was cut off from those two.

And if that wasn't enough, their half flower teammate was also missing. Though what this meant was anybodies guess. Zetsu always reported in, religiously really. Pausing momentarily, Kisame grinned at his own unintentional pun. Zetsu's disappearance was perhaps another misfortune carried out by the holder of the _void_ ring.

"Continue your missions. I'll end him, once and for all."

With that said, the leader disappeared. After that, the rest of the holograms did the same thing. Itachi himself, turned to walk out of the cave that they had been standing in, with a disappointed Kisame hot on his heels. 'Maybe we'll get some blood next time.'

---

She impatiently watched as the two people who raised her calmly sipped their tea, as if they didn't have a care in the world. They had been at this for all of yesterday and she simply took it with the poise and etiquette that she had been taught to take things.

"In the name of everything that is youthful in the world, why haven't either of you spoken with Naruto yet?" Yukina blinked a couple of times before she placed her head in her hands in sheer embarrassment. Stress, combined with teaming up with both Lee and Gai was definitely affecting her. At that thought, both of her eyes widened. 'What if Kiba's affecting me too?' Kiba had…a rather colorful language, which both Gai and his former sensei tended to scold him for. 'Ok, something that both Gai and Lee say often just slipped out of my mouth. If something that Kiba always says slips out in front of them…' she began to sweat slightly at the thought of it.

"What honey?" asked her grandmother in slight confusion.

"It must be some of that… 'slang'…that the young people in Konoha are using", her grandfather noticed with more than a bit dissatisfaction. He had his granddaughter schooled in proper dialect since she was two. To know that she was picking up a sloppy way of speaking was quite, disheartening. He had no idea what other meaning youthful stood for. 'Better not be street talk for some kind of new drug', the old man practically fumed.

Straightening up a bit, "I just don't-"

"Please refrain from using contractions dear, they are not proper for a young lady." Her grandfather schooled, getting more dissatisfied by the second. One of his biggest disappointments in the last three years, which didn't include his other grandchild, was the fact that he saw so little of Yukina. Unfortunately, this also included never meeting her Jounin-sensei, though he was assured that the man was most capable.

"I just do not", Yukina quickly corrected herself, "understand why you haven't…have not tried speaking with him yet."

The ruler of Hi no Kuni looked at his granddaughter with a little empathy. He understood perfectly well how it felt to have a relative that, through very questionable means, she never knew existed…for he was in the same boat, as they say. He did not, however, know how it felt to attack that relative in both ignorance and rage. "Honey, I'm completely at a lost when it comes to your brother. I am not quite sure how he feels about us or his life in general, however I am positive that he does not have a positive opinion about either. That is why we had planned to bide our time when approaching him. It is part of the reason that we asked for this extended mission."

The youngest of the trio leaned back, unintentionally tuning out her grandmother, another bad habit that would usually be punished. Patience wasn't one of her virtues.

---

'So fucking bored', thought the blonde in annoyance. It was the second day of the journey. A three weeklong journey that should only take a few days. Simply put they're going to Wave Country, for some kind of negotiation; he really didn't pay attention to why they were going there. The problem was that they were a. moving very slowly and b. taking a much longer way than team 7 went when they had gone to Wave.

"So…from what I hear on the grapevine, you somehow learned how to completely conceal your killer intent." It was worded as his statement, but Jiraiya worded it as if it was a question.

Lazily glancing over to the man, Naruto was surprised to see a bit of admiration in the man's eyes. He knew it wasn't the first time that he had surprised the old veteran, but until now the man had always hidden it.

"Killer intent?" That was obvious a question. They both looked over, well Naruto just shifted his eyes, to the young woman that had been walking next to Jiraiya. Well…actually Jiraiya came over and started walking right next to her, unfortunately for her, she wasn't allowed to break formation to get away from the man. At first glance, she looked like she wouldn't last thirty seconds in a real fight. However, if you were to look underneath the underneath, you'd understand that the captain of the Daiymo's guard wouldn't have someone who wasn't capable working on such an extended trip. Meaning? Like many Kunoichi, this woman was much more than she seemed.

Jiraiya smiled back at the girl. "I'm a bit surprised that you aren't familiar with the phrase, you must come from a very honorable upbringing…"

The blonde rolled his eyes. He never spent an extending period of time with Jiraiya though even with the miniscule amount of time they had spent together, he was familiar with the hidden meaning in his words. This one sounded sort of like, _"You seem somewhat innocent and ignorant."_ Which probably wouldn't mean much if Jiraiya hadn't been hitting on her on and off for the last few hours.

"Yes, I'm a daughter of the Tora Clan. May I ask what is the meaning of 'Killer Intent'?" It's common for noble families around the Elemental Nations to have a clan named after animals, Tora meaning Tiger.

Ignoring her question, Jiraiya began, "Oh yes…centered around the city of Coral correct?"

The blonde mentally flinched at the question, remembering the village with the Flame of Justice Festival. The Festival that had to do with burning anything that had anything to do with the Kyuubi.

"I hear that it's a beautiful village, perhaps you can show me around."

The blonde scoffed, translation? _"Do you have 'your' own place in the village, or am I going to have to sneak out in the middle of the night so none of your family finds me?"_

"**Hehehe. That's actually pretty funny, I think I'll give it a shot."**

"I've heard that place is famous for it's sake."

"**I'd like to get you drunk."**

"Perhaps we can get to know each other better."

"**I don't care that you were just born when I was thirty."**

"Perhaps…" The girl said uncomfortably, obviously planning on ditching the old man the first chance she got. "So…could you answer my question."

To prevent Jiraiya from making an even bigger fool of himself, he was half tempted to answer the girl's question, though in the end Jiraiya surprised him again by actually answering her question. "You know it as kenki (offensive aura). That's what Samurai tend to refer to it as. Well…them and shinobi from Kiri and Iwa."

The girl's eyes widened slightly, "I had no idea that ninja learned about kenki."

"Yea, it's a very important skill for any fighter to use. In reality, everyone produces killer intent when they are about to kill or fight someone. Shinobi, like Samurai, are taught to sense that aura at a young age, to help them sense danger. However, some Shinobi learn to take it a step further. They can either learn to produce a more concentrated form of killer intent, which helps freeze their enemies. Some shinobi can even learn to hide their kenki to hide themselves and their intentions. However, it was considered impossible to block it completely. Really would like to know how Naruto pulled it off."

Expecting that to be a question directed at him, he opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off.

"**Do you like to do it froggy style?"**

The blonde rolled his eyes, at both his tenant and the older man who began asking a bunch of questions, some very inappropriate ones. While Jiraiya was wasting his time with the girl, whose name he, Jiraiya, probably never bothered to learn. His thoughts drifted back to the carriage, or to be more exact, the three people occupying the carriage.

On one hand, his grandparents didn't know that he existed, so they couldn't possibly have helped him when he was younger. They couldn't have protected him when he needed to be protected. On another hand, part of him wondered if they would have even bothered. Fifteen years, and supposedly twelve years, later they wanted to get to know him. But would they have still wanted to get to know him when he was but an infant, when his humanity was still being questioned by nearly the entire population of Konoha, 'instead of just a majority of drunken assholes that have nothing better to do', thought the icy-eyed boy. He had to wonder though if, during their own grief for the lost of their daughter and son-in-law, would they have treated him the same as everyone else.

His smile, the mask he put up in front of others, the same one he had one right now, was not just something he used to conceal his emotions. It was also his barrier. A symbolic yard stick that he kept in his hand, come to close and you'd get poked…and it wouldn't be in the arm or torso or some other place that _may_ be considered mildly appropriate. Grin like a sociopath all the time, and the majority of the people around you would stay away from you…constant sarcasm and conjuring weapons literally the size of a redwood didn't hurt either.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop assholes like Kakashi and Jiraiya from hanging around. Though to be honest, he didn't care too much about them. If he had to be honest…he actually enjoyed Kakashi's company and he found Jiraiya's antics to be amusing. Sakura was…well…she had gotten a lot better after the Chunin exams and especially after Sasuke left. She'd become somewhat easier to be around, though he wouldn't be surprised if she was secretly planning on making a necklace out of Sasuke's junk. Girl didn't look like she took rejection easily…or legally. From what he could gather, the few times that someone mentioned the Uchiha's name around her, she seemed to be taking his leaving like an ex-girlfriend who was just cheated on. He wouldn't count the aged Kage, Iruka, or his friend Rei into the same category as the former three, since they were all friends before his…personality adjustment. Though he supposed that Haku could be added to that list, though her pleasant aura prevented him from coming up with a derogatory name for her. Like calling Sakura a bitch, or calling Kakashi an asshole, or calling Jiraiya a disgusting, drunken, smelly, womanizing, perverted, butt-ugly, etc., etc.

Point being she, the ice-user, fit into a whole different category. In one respect he felt somewhat guilty, he was on the team responsible for taking her father figure's life. A man he secretly respected. He could imagine it took a lot for someone to get hit by something like the **Raikiri**, get up and slay over ten people. Other emotions hit the youth like a ton of bricks, though he could barely come up for a decent name for those.

Naruto closed his eyes, 'Kakashi…Sakura…Jiraiya…Haku. Four people who truly wanted to be close to me, despite me constantly putting them off. Maybe it's a sign that I should lower my defense and let other people get close.' As if to test this theory out, he momentarily stopped smiling, pulling his face into a neutral expression and quashing the smile that was on his face nearly perpetually. Almost immediately after, he began smiling again.

There was of course, one problem with wanting to give his grandparents a shot. His sister.

Not completely unlike Haku, a torrent of emotions engulfed the boy when he thought of the girl. In one respect, he was heavily jealous of the girl. He was condemned to become a prison and in many ways lived in a prison. Another barrier, fabricated from the emotions of the people around him, which prevented him from growing up to become an entirely different, and probably much happier, person. She was treated like royalty, and grew up with constant love and adoration from those around her. In her home, she was a princess. In his home, he was a demon.

He couldn't help his feelings, though at the same time he realized how hypocritical he was being. If his upbringing taught him anything, it was not to blame someone for something that they had no control over. She had no control over her upbringing, much like he had no control over his. They were each playing with the cards that they had been dealt, and it wasn't like they could get a redraw. The ones to blame for everything were the two that brought them into this world. He had come to that conclusion three years ago, sometime around the time that Sakura began annoying him to go see her, when she just arrived in the village. He thought that maybe the two of them could talk…but then his feelings changed. She attacked him. She was given infinitely more than he had ever asked for…and **she attacked him**. Perhaps that's where his feelings for her went down south. When he actually began to hate her. His feelings festered when he tried to put her on the ass end of an ass kicking, and two of the aforementioned assholes backed her up. What's worse was, that seemingly immediately afterwards, she did a complete 180. She actually had the gall to refer to him as her brother mere weeks after she tried to brain him with that thrice damn staff. He left the village hating her.

However, as he traveled, he learned to systematically let go of his hatred; it being one of the first steps to erasing his killer intent. He truly could say that he didn't really hate her anymore, though he didn't really care to be in her presence. The girl in question truly did seem remorseful for her actions, though some part of him truly didn't care. Perhaps he never let go of those emotions after all, and just buried them deep. He wondered if she truly believed that they could form a brother/sister bond after everything that's happened. Fat chance…even if he did forgive her.

Naruto's eyes widened at a thought. Then he grinned…er…continued grinning. This would only work if that woman Jiraiya was trying to violate knew nothing about him…well here's hoping.

"s'cuse me…umm…miss?" He never did bother to learn any names.

The samurai sighed in relief at the interruption as she immediately looked towards Naruto's direction. Surprisingly, Jiraiya didn't seem all that upset.

"Are you familiar with the _Flame of Justice Festival_?"

The woman could only nod. To her, the question seemed rather silly, considering that her clan lorded over that village, and many others.

"I've heard of that. It's suppose to be a very popular festival in your village, right?" Jiraiya beamed, hoping to once again regain the woman's attentions.

Once again, the woman merely nodded, choosing not to voice out her words.

The blonde grinned and quickly, before Jiraiya could continue speaking, asked in an overly loud voice, "So has Yukina ever taken part in that festival."

_boom_

The loud bang noise that came from the carriage probably made his day. As if someone was so surprised that they, _she_, immediately stood up and knocked themselves, _herself_, on the head.

The woman nodded, seemingly not hearing the sound from the carriage. "Oh yes, Yukina-hime has come to the festival every year since she was five-"

_boom_

His smile nearly split his face.

"-years old."

"Oh yea, I remember her always trying to get me to go to that thing." Jiraiya thought while rubbing in his chin. "Never was able to indulge her on her wish though." The older man was oblivious. Probably figured since Yukina was allowed to go, it had nothing to do with any of his four favorite vices: women, sex, drinking, and women having sex while drinking. "However, I clearly remember how she always looked forward to it, throughout the whole year. Practically the girl's Christmas."

_boom_

That sound was, probably, Yukina letting her head fall against the inside of the carriage.

"Since she's been so busy, she probably hasn't gotten a chance to celebrate it in such a long time." He then turned to the woman that he had been trying to hit on, "Didn't she say that after becoming a ninja and taking care of certain business that she would bring…_something_ for some sort of ritual or what not. Something that she would obtain at Konohagakure."

_Boom…boom…boom…boom…boom…boom…boom…boom…boom…boom._

Scratch the last comment; this moment would probably keep Naruto happy for a whole week. After all, if he was being forced to go on a journey that he didn't want to go on, he may as well think up ways to have someone give themselves brain damage. After all, Naruto never did say that he _himself_ wasn't an asshole.

-Konoha-

Tsunade looked at the file in her hand. Two whole squads of chunin, massacred by just three missing-nin. They wouldn't have even known about it, if one of the men hadn't had the foresight to send out a messenger hawk during the battle. Jiraiya's spy network was compromised. It was as simple as that.

They, Jiraiya and a few of his spies, had received word that Akatsuki would back off for a while to reorganize, especially after losing a whole one tenth of their attack force. Figures they would leak this information out just to take them off their guard. They should have known this…

They were ninja for kami's sake. Not just ninja, but war veterans.

Looking up from the files, she looked at the four people, and one dog, in front of her. "You have your orders, go now!" With that said, all of them disappeared.

Their leader on this mission would be Shizune. No one in the village was a better medical-specialist than Shizune, except Tsunade and perhaps Sakura. Unfortunately, Tsunade couldn't leave on this mission, now matter how much she truly wanted to, and Sakura lacked the near two decades of experience that Shizune could boast. The second person Haku. She truly would have preferred to give the girl a break, after her grueling encounter with the beast known as Kisame, but the limited amount of forces they could spare wouldn't allow it. She supposed that she could have sent another ninja in her place, and left her on guard duty. Though Haku had a delicacy needed for this mission, and she seemed more loyal, nearly to a fault, than most people within her own village. Kakashi mentioned something like that, perhaps she should set the girl up for an exam with a psychologist? The third person was Rock Lee. His dreams and desire for training may put him on the Fire Lord's good side…though his personality was just as likely to do the exact opposite. The final ones were the pair of Kiba and Akamaru, completing the team that Yukina has learned to work with over the last two and a half years. She would have loved to add Gai to their ranks, but she really needed her elite ninja in other positions.

She then began scanning a different set of files. Dread filled her as her eyes scanned words written by leaf spies in a certain country. She clenched her eyes shut. "If I'm reading into this correctly, then…"

---

Jiraiya looked onto the makeshift battling ring from his position just outside the ring. In reality, it was just formed from the spectators who had been watching the two samurai battle it out. Jiriaya, Naruto, Takeru, and the remaining members of the Fire Lord's Samurai formed the ring. Izumi, Takeru's wife, was sitting near the side of the wagon with Yukina, both of whom were drinking tea.

After the bout, which involved one of the rookies and was mostly one-sided, the two samurai bowed to each other before walking towards the outside of the circle. "Ryuho-kun" when Takeru called the man's name, immediately a rather large samurai stepped forth. Jiraiya recognized the man immediately. He was still very young and very brash, though he's said to be a prodigy. "And how about Naruto-kun?" The toad sage was surprised to hear Takeru call out his grandson's name.

He was even more surprised when Naruto calmly walked into the training field. His eyes widened, 'Wait…what the fuck?', he nearly cursed out loud as he suddenly realized how wrong this situation was. He absentmindedly wondered if the blonde was finally going to attempt to make some peace with his estranged family.

Takeru didn't seem to notice any of Jiraiya's concerns. "As with the earlier spar, this match only has two rules. You are not allowed to leave the ring and you are especially not allowed to mortally wound your opponent. You may both start when you feel ready."

Getting into his fighting stance, with his sansetsukon held high, he began easing his way slowly towards Naruto. Even the brash fighter knew better than to charge straight at a ninja…that spoke volumes for the kind of training these men and women go through to become part of Takeru's guards. Turning towards Naruto, Jiraiya could see that the boy was just standing there, with his eyes closed. Jiraiya's admiration for the boy, the samurai not Naruto, went up somewhat. What Naruto was doing was highly disrespectful towards an opponent. For the Samurai to calmly continue easing towards Naruto instead of attacking him head on, showed quite a bit of restraint.

A few moments later, when the Samurai was close to striking distance, Naruto opened his eyes and did a quick series of hand seals. **"Mokuton: Moku Bunshin no Jutsu**.**"** Chakra began seeping out of the boy as two perfect clones were formed almost immediately, on either side of the blonde. This didn't deter the man as he continued easing into striking distance. One more foot…

Ryuho immediately raised his staff to attack the blonde, when his two doppelgangers each did a single hand seal, and two puffs of smoke exploded from their positions…concealing all three blondes. He immediately jumped back and placed his staff in front of him, easing into a defensive stance.

From his position, Jiraiya stood eagerly off to the side, waiting for the smoke to clear. And when the smoke did clear it revealed…_Tsunade_? _Two_ Tsunades? Two _Naked_ Tsunades? Two Naked Tsunades _embracing themselves in a very erotic position._

From Ryuho's position he could only see a pair of busty thirty-year-old twins in a position that would remain scarred in his head for the remainder of his life. And then blackness, as someone did a simple chop to the back of his neck.

From his position, Jiraiya could only shake his head as he watched the blonde smirk, as his little ploy went off without a hitch. He then quickly turned towards the Samurai. The majority of the male half was in the same position as the Jinchuuriki's opponent. The female half, plus the rest of the males, were just stupefied. He then turned towards both Izumi and Yukina, both looked horrified…

Takeru? Looked horrified as well…before it was completely filled with barely suppressed rage.

The toad sage turned to the side just as four figures jumped into the clearing, Shizune being at the head of the pack. Shizune was one of the village's elites, plus a very capable medic. If Tsunade sent her…the man immediately felt a migraine come along. He turned towards the group he was with. Naruto, Takeru, Izumi, and the commander of the Samurai – a man named Daisuke, were the only ones who seemed to notice. Everyone else was still in a state of shock…he'd have to commend Naruto later for that one. He then turned towards back to Shizune, as she came closer. "Password", he said with a smile. It was a little thing the Sannin had been able to instate within Konoha, whenever there were high profile missions like this one. He told Tsunade what the password would be for this mission and specifically ordered that it be a young female that gave it.

Shizune, on the other hand, as she did a simple **henge** into Tsunade, "Jiraiya, if you actually think I'm gonna have one of my kunoichi say something like that your fucking stupid. And if you give the people I send any trouble, this time I'll follow through on that castration threat." With that the girl dropped the **henge**, returning to her normal form.

The old man nodded, 'Close enough I suppose.'

Shizune then peaked over Jiraiya's shoulder, at the faces most of the rest of the group was making. "Is this a bad time?"

---

"Well shit…" cursed the toad sage. Shizune, Takeru, Daisuke, and himself were a little bit away from the rest of the group.

The medic-nin could only nod solemnly, "Tsunade believes that one of your contacts could have been compromised."

The very thought of it upset Jiraiya. It wasn't the first time such a thing would happen though. Orochimaru had infiltrated his spy network on more than one occasion. It was to be expected when you dealt with people with no loyalty except to your wallet. He'd have to cut those three, the people who fed him the Akatsuki info, off…after he interrogated them.

"My lord-" Dasuke chimed in, causing everyone to turn in his direction, "-if this bad of ninjas is truly coming after the boy, then I believe it would be best to separate ourselves from him."

"No…" said the man without a thought. He would not abandon the boy a second time, he'd be damned if he did that. Closing his eyes briefly, the Daiymo took a long look at the man in front of him. "Until I know exactly how to deal with this whole situation…this remains between us." He didn't even wait to receive and affirmation from Daisuke. He was both an old friend and loyal to a fault. "Naruto, the boy, is my grandson."

At that, the man's eyes widened immediately.

"If these shinobi are after him", Jiraiya turned towards Takeru, "then you'll need to do something about them."

"Yea…" With that, he turned and began walking towards the rest of the group.

Shizune excused herself with a polite bow before walking behind Jiraiya.

"Never was fond of that man." He didn't like the man's attitude or his…hobbies. Daisuke turned towards his Ruler, "Do you think he'll follow orders?"

Takeru nodded. "I think he would have protected Naruto, even if I ordered him to abandon him." Unlike his current companion, the Daiymo did at least respect Jiraiya for both his strength and his loyalty towards his own home, even if he didn't show as much respect for him as his, Jiraiya's, peers did. He then sent the sage a glare… 'I will have to speak to that man for his obvious influence over Naruto.' He was still quite annoyed with that little stunt the boy pulled during what should have been an honorable sparring match.

---

A couple of days passed for the group, now walking with four extra ninja. The blonde continued walking, glad that they had finally reached Wave Country. Well actually, they just reached the bridge. Once they crossed it they would be in the Land of Wave. Unfortunately, during the last two days, the trip had turned from boring…to boring and annoying. Now he had to deal with Kiba's constant bragging. Of course, Lee joined in as well, though frankly the boy didn't have an arrogant bone in his body. He wasn't bragging…which some how made the entire situation even more annoying. And to add icing on the metaphoric cake, Yukina was there teammate, so he had to spend kami knows how many hours hearing about her. He raised an eyebrow at Kiba…what was he talking about now some type of Snow Princess?

"So we got Yukie out of Snow Country again and managed to bring her back to the village. I hear they're going to place her somewhere safe until they can decide what to do with the princess' current situation."

The blonde rolled his eyes. He kept talking about a bunch of missions that they succeeded, but they usually ended up running away at the end. Their charges were always alive, but they usually got beaten into the ground.

Speaking of being beaten into the ground, Naruto took a quick look at the Daiymo. Ever since the four ninjas arrived, the Daiymo has been throwing dirty looks at Lee behind the boys back. After a chance glance, the boy saw that the man seemed to gain a twitch in his eyes anytime Lee spoke the word, 'youthful', which was often. While he was walking with Jiraiya, he even heard Takeru ask Jiraiya if youthful was slang for drugs. Giving the Daiymo an odd look, before turning to glance at Lee. This was the first time he has met Lee, though he has heard of the boy before. He began hearing a lot more when Yukina joined his team. He has met Gai before though. 'Hmmm…does Gai do drugs?' The boy obviously imitated his sensei. 'Never heard _youthful_ used as slang before.' The toad sage shrugged, "Not quite sure…" It was obviously not the answer that Takeru wanted, as he moved backwards to speak with his wife; all the while shooting dirty looks at Lee.

"So Naruto…"

The blonde carefully rolled his eyes towards Kiba's direction.

"You've been on any exciting missions?"

'Hmmm…' out of the corner of his eye, Naruto could see that they were coming upon a large, square stone on the side of the bridge. Thinking nothing of it he decided to turn back to Kiba. It was obvious that the boy was still trying to brag, this time by asking Naruto if he's ever had a mission as exciting. He half wanted to tell him about the mission to Wave, 'though that probably wouldn't be a good idea with Haku so close by…' After racking his mind for a while longer, he remembered that he didn't really care what Kiba thought.

When the dog training ninja heard nothing but silence from the blonde, he took it as a sign that he never went on anything even remotely exciting, causing him to smirk.

"Hey look at this!" The entire group, responding to Lee's annoyingly loud scream, turned towards the young boy who was now standing in front of the stone. "It says the bridge is called, The Great Naruto Bridge."

Everyone, even the Daiymo and his wife who had been walking along the wagon, turned towards Naruto curiously. Actually, Haku had a sad smile on her face. In response to this, the boy could only shrug, "So, some idiot decided to name the bridge after a ramen topping."

"It goes on to say…" Lee continued, "In honor of Uzumaki Naruto,"

The boy shrugged again, "I'm sure there are a bunch of ninjas named Uzumaki Naruto."

"And the Genin team consisting of Hatake Kakashi, Harono Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke."

"I hear that Kakashi guy never passed a single team in all his time as a Jounin, the Sakura I know is named Har**u**no Sakura, and as far as I know there isn't a single ninja in Konoha named Uchiha Sasuke."

"The smiling ninja and his team brought hope to Wave."

"Ok, do I seriously look like the type of guy who would bring hope to anybody?"

"Wave will always remember the teenage ninja and his friends…"

"Well, there you go. When I was last down here I was twelve years old, I don't think that qualifies as a teenager."

After a very awkward silence, both Takeru and Izumi gave a rather large laugh before the old man clapped his hand on Naruto's shoulder. He then began walking again ushering the group forward until finally they reached the end of the bridge. After finally touching land once again, it didn't take the group much longer before they made it to town and unfortunately, or at least in Naruto's opinion, to the large group of people that was waiting the for the Daiymo's appearance. The blonde blinked in surprise the moment he saw the person heading the group. If he didn't know better, he'd say the man at the front was Gatou. Feeling a small spike of killer intent, he could see that Haku obviously felt the same way, though she seemed to have her feelings under control.

"Oi Naruto, did you feel everything get colder all of a sudden?" Asked the lone Inuzuka of the group.

Giving a small shrug, the boy turned back to the conversation that the Daiymo and the Gatou-look alike were having. "That is very kind of you Sentaru-san" began Takeru, "But we are all exhausted from our long journey and would much rather just retire to our rooms for the night." The group would be staying at a large inn, which was completely cleared of all other guests, just for this occasion.

The man named Sentaru, giving a polite nod, replied, "Of course, Takeru-sama, please allow me to lead the way." The blonde began moving, following the rest of the group, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

It was Jiraiya, "I'm gonna be leaving a few toads and Shizune is gonna be leaving a few of her nin-dogs-"

'Shizune began training nin-dogs?'

"-to help guard the Daiymo. I more or less know Shizune's, Yukina's, and your abilities…but I want to know all the others."

Giving a small nod, the blonde continued walking towards the inn where there group would be residing for the remainder of the trip..

---

On one side of the field stood Naruto and on the other side stood Haku. Jiraiya, Shizune, Kiba, along with Akamaru, and Lee were both off on the side observing. Too be honest, the blonde didn't even want to be fighting at this time of night. It was a night of the full moon, something that he recently began enjoying during his time away. Shikamaru had his clouds…he had the moon. He could only hope this match would end quickly enough, so he could enjoy the rest of the night.

"FIGHT!!!" Lee called out.

They immediately charged at each other, an unspoken agreement that the two of them would begin with a simple warm up. Using his momentum, Naruto leapt into the air and aimed a simple kick at the girls mid-section. Using her own momentum, the girl began to twirl on one foot, dodged and grabbed Naruto's outstretched leg and threw him over her shoulder. Right before the boy hit the ground, he outstretched his hands and flipped himself to his feet. He quickly turned back towards the ice using kunoichi, just in time to dodge a knife hand strike. Skipping to the girl's side, he sent a punch straight at her head. Using her superior speed, she once again grabbed onto the offending appendage, and pulled the boy behind her. Naruto's eyes widened in from his vulnerable position right as he felt a strike connect with the back of his neck.

Haku watched as the boy slumped to the ground, knocked out from her strike. Or so she believed, before the boy poofed out of existence and was replaced with a log. She immediately turned around and saw the boy standing a few meters away, with that strange bamboo sword of his. He can't compete with her in straight out taijutsu, so he was hoping the sword would allow him to overpower her. Haku did a quick one-handed seal and whispered something to herself. Water began to gather around her fingers, seemingly out of thin air. Then, without hand seals, the water began to spiral around and the ends of her fingers, extending about an inch outwards. Then the water crystallized. She smiled as the blonde's eyes widened. 'He was obviously expecting me to use senbon needles.' And then she charged.

From his position, Jiraiya could only look on with amusement. Watching two people, both with an elemental fusion, spar like this was highly entertaining. It was obvious that Haku held the current advantage, in terms of Taijutsu at least. He watched as Naruto aimed another horizontal slash, just as his bamboo sword began to transform into what looks like a giant purple thorn. The kunoichi ducked under Naruto's sword and countered with a slash that the blonde barely avoided, getting away with a small scratch on the side of his neck. Seeing that she had drawn blood must have scared the girl, since she seemed to hesitate for a moment. Jiraiya had heard that she would go out of her way to avoid hurting her comrades during any sparring match.

Naruto didn't seem to notice as he aimed to stab the girl. Haku quickly sidestepped the attack and, getting over her earlier reservations, scratch the side of Naruto's wrist. Unfortunately for the blonde, this action caused him to drop his sword. He immediately jumped a couple of meters backwards, keeping his gaze upon the girl, continuously moving backwards away from the girl. Seeing the boy's retreat, the girl momentarily relaxed, thinking that the boy was about to surrender. Naruto grinned and winked at the girl before starting a small chain of seals. Haku began her own hand seals, believing it would be a good idea to conceal herself from the blonde.

"**Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan no Jutsu!"**

"**Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu!"**

It took Naruto five seconds to create a tree, very similar to the ones that surrounded the clearing that they were in; the boy was hidden in the canopy. In those same five seconds, the girl was covered in a thick mist, which only got up to her chest before the girl stopped pumping chakra into her technique. She had been waiting for an offensive move and he chose to conceal himself? But that was the point when her blood ran cold.

"**Mokuton Hijutsu: Konoha Shurikan no Jutsu!"** The leaves in the tree, a group at a time, shined for a brief second.

Dispelling her icy claws from her fingers, she began a series of one-handed seals. It was a nameless attack that she invented back with Zabuza, whenever she needed some extra senbon needles. She supposed a good name for it would be, following Naruto's example. **"Hyoton Hijutsu: Koori Senbon no Jutsu! (Ice Release: Ice Senbon Technique)."** The mist began to take shape around her hands and a little of it crystallized in her hands into multiple needles. She began throwing the needles in her hands, quickly moving them back down to the mist to conjure up more senbon.

Jiraiya watched in even more amusement as blades of leaf and ice struck each other.

"Wow…" He momentarily turned towards Lee's direction, seeing the boy with more than a little admiration in his eyes. "If Tenten-chan could do that…she'd be sooo happy." The white haired man raised an eyebrow at that. He didn't recognize the name Tenten, but she was probably the type that loved pointy things, if Lee's statement was any indication. The exchange lasted another twenty seconds, when Naruto finally ran out of leaves. Luckily for Haku, she was armed with the moisture in the air. The moisture in the air of an island nation… And she looked more than a little pissed off at Naruto's tactics. The blonde chuckled momentarily before jumping to another tree.

Jiraiya watched the girl go into a defensive stance seemingly taking a few seconds to catch her breath. Using that _much_ chakra, that _fast_ wasn't a good idea. Women already tended to have a smaller chakra supply. Her mistake was going into a stamina battle against Naruto, seemingly forgetting that his reserves were probably twenty times whatever hers were; and that's _if_ he didn't summon the fox's chakra. Even if the girl wasted half the chakra that he did, which she actually did, the numbers were still in his favor. It was a simple, yet smart tactic on his part. She'd need to finish this quickly, before exhaustion gets the better of her.

"**Makai Oni: Moku Bunshin!" **Three of his demonic fox clones jumped out of the tree, looking ready to tear the girl apart.

"**Hyoton-"** Jiraiya immediately turned towards the girl. **"Haryu Moko!"** Water swirled around the girl before taking the form of a water dragon, and then crystallizing into ice. The ice dragon immediately shot towards the three fox demons, easily dispatching the fox clones.

At that point, her shinobi instincts immediately sped up as she turned behind her. She didn't have a chance as she felt the edge of a blade press against the side of her neck. Then, in a slightly arrogant tone, "You should probably give up…unless you think you can survive without a throat."

The girl could only see Naruto out of the corner of her eyes, but gave him a small glare, "Can you survive without lung."

In confusion, the blonde looked down and was shocked to see the girl holding a longer than normal senbon needle, aimed directly at his lung. The boy could just shrug, "I've actually survived a stab to the lung before…regeneration and what not" the boy said with a grin. In reality, he was praying that the girl would take his bluff and not attack him. While he actually has survived taking a stab to the lung before, it just really hurt like hell.

They just stood there, staring at each other in the moon lit night.

"Damn…if you two were samurai this would make a kick ass scene", commented the Toad Sage as he walked to them, suspiciously jotting something down on a notebook. Shizune, Lee, Kiba, and Akamaru were flanking them.

Both teens blinked, clearly confused by Jiraiya's statement.

After putting away his notebook, the sage elaborated, "You always see an epic moonlit battle in those samurai novels. By the way, fights over."

Giving each other one last glance, before lowering their weapons. "Your sparring match displayed the epitome of youthfulness. Your spring time of youth burned brighter than it has ever burned before."

"You could have both done a lot better", commented Jiraiya. Both Naruto and Haku turned towards Jiraiya.

Glancing over the girl, he raised an eyebrow at the girl. The girl still seemed to have some respect for Jiraiya something evident from the way she was staring at him, obviously expecting him to give her pointers. The boy shrugged, he supposed when your one of the best you can be a total pervert and still attain the respect of everyone around you. Or maybe the girl was ignorant to the fact that this was the same man who wrote Icha Icha Paradise. The blonde scowled as a thought came to his head, 'And if she's been in Konoha for a little over three years…I wonder how many times Jiraiya has peak in on her bathing at the hotsprings?'

Akamaru whined a bit as he took a few steps back to hide behind Kiba, something which was actually quite comical considering the size of the dog. Shizune and Haku gave the blonde a sideways glance before turning back to Jiraiya. The old man completely ignored Naruto, looking straight at Haku. "You tried to fight Naruto in a stamina battle." She raised an eyebrow at the comment. "In the small duel when you kept creating ice needles and he kept turning those leaves into shurikan. I promise you that no matter how much you train, you will never have the chakra reserves and stamina that he possesses _now_. Hell, _I_ have a fraction of Naruto's chakra reserves." He then turned towards Naruto, "Naruto, she was making you her bitch in the close range fight you had and you decide to try to end it by putting a blade to her neck?"

Kiba had started snickering at the _bitch_ comment.

The toad sage turned to Shizune, "I don't think these guys" gesturing towards Kiba and Lee, "have ever fought someone who fights primarily with medic jutsu. Do you mind?"

The black haired woman blinked, before giving a nod.

He then turned back towards the group, "Inuzuka, you can fight." He then took a moment to look at Akamaru, "Fight without the dog." Lee visibly grimaced. It was obvious that the boy was anxious for a fight as well.

Shizune on the other hand, didn't want to spar at all. Feeling that she should be fresh for the Akatsuki, she preferred to not waste energy on a practice battle. A look of determination came over Shizune's face, 'I don't believe that a few last minute spars will help anybody, but if Jiraiya-sama insists…'

"Fight!"

As expected, Kiba began the fight by charging straight a Shizune.

"Naruto…" The blonde turned towards Jiraiya, "There's something I need to talk to you about in private, do you mind going back to the hotel?"

The fifteen-year-old Sennin just nodded before heading back into town.

---

The male blonde sat on the roof of the hotel, lying on the ground with his legs hanging over the railing. His right hand was supporting his head, whilst his left was holding a sword transformed from a bamboo flower. If anyone were to walk up to him now, they'd assume that he was staring at the sword in his hand, but in reality he was staring at the night sky. Caught in deep thought, he didn't even hear Jiraiya walking up on him.

"Ryou for your thoughts?" He asked, but before the blonde could reply, he added, "10,000 ryou if you use that transformation again?"

In reply, the blonde placed his sword on the ground and raised his left fist, the back of it being towards Jiraiya. He then raised his right hand to it and began to move it in a circular motion, as if he was working a crank. As he did this, little by little, the middle finger in his left hand, raised inch by inch, until it was fully extended.

The old man sweat dropped at the act, 'what a needlessly complicated way to flip someone the bird.' Thought the self proclaimed Super Pervert. "So…you're really going out of your way to avoid everyone." And by everyone, he didn't actually mean _everyone_.

The blonde shrugged as he reclaimed his sword. "To be honest, I'm just thinking, I'm not trying to avoid them…well not right now at least."

"So, what the hell are you thinking about?"

"Are you still trying to play teacher?"

Jiraiya just stared at the boy in boredom. This tired old routine had to be put to an end now. "Listen kid, I can understand that you don't want to end up like your father." Naruto cringed somewhat at that. "And your probably the only one in the whole damn…well…world who would probably think that's a bad thing, and that includes your father's enemies in Hidden Stone. But I'll tell you one thing…your father wouldn't have to be protected from punks like the Aktasuki." At that comment Naruto sent an icy glare at the older man. Before the boy could comment, Jiraiya continued, "And before you make some dumb ass comment like, 'I don't need to be protected,' SAVE IT. The one you killed was easily one of the weakest, and he'd already wasted most of his chakra on trying to extract the demon. If you had fought him at full power, you wouldn't have gotten off as easy as you did."

"If-"

"If you had been stronger, you could have done a lot more. With Itachi and Kisame there, it was unlikely that either of your allies would have lasted much longer. A few more minutes and they would have killed the people who went to rescue you and then they would have teamed up and recaptured you. The only reason you 'won' that battle was because you managed to kill the 'weakened' Deidara before, they managed to kill your friends."

"I can beat them…"

"You're a lot of things Naruto, arrogant isn't one of those things. Do you truly believe without a doubt that you can defeat them all? What if more than one were to come after you? Can you defeat two at the same time? Three? Four?"

"…"

"Ninja don't play fair, you should know that right now? What if they take a hostage, would you abandon one of the people who care about you?"

"…" There were a total of seven people that he cared about. He didn't know what he'd do if faced with such a situation. Kakashi had brought up that point the first time when team 7 was just formed. Though at that point he didn't understand those feelings.

"Or are you hoping that they make a mistake, and take a certain somebody that you don't care about."

"…" Yukina?

"Most ninja have this talk with one of their senseis, I can see that you've missed out on it." Jiraiya clenched his eyes shut. "What do you want Naruto. What is it that you truly want?"

"Freedom…" Naruto looked at the black sky, lit up by the stars and a crescent moon. He silently wondered how a man that could act like such a fool one moment, could act so wise the next. 'Though I guess he's a sage for a reason.'

"You want what was promised to you by Sarutobi-sensei. You want to be able to wander around the world without being hunted by anyone." It made sense. Naruto was denied many things in his life. He was denied a normal childhood. He was denied the ability to choose his future; it was always planned that Kakashi would train both Naruto and the last Uchiha. Even if he failed the latest exam, it was always planned to give him a make-up exam…though thanks to that Mizuki brat, that wasn't necessary. He's been bound by chains since the moment the Kyuubi was sealed inside of him…well actually since his mother refused to take him back to the capital. Freedom would be the thing that a boy like Naruto would want. "If you leave Konoha, you will be hunted by Akatsuki, you do understand that right?"

The blonde gave a small nod, "They'll be the first ones I take out."

"Your powerful for you age. You have the potential to become so much more powerful. That alone will make you Orochimaru's enemy…you'll hear from him eventually."

"Go ahead and place him with the members of dawn."

"Then, if you care to stop slitting your wrists for a few minutes, I might be able to help you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Did you just refer to me as emo?"

Choosing to ignore the ridiculous comment, "If you're to truly become strong, then you need to stop worrying about becoming similar to another man. You need to just let yourself grow up into the man your going to become. If it helps…" Jiraiya looked disappointed for a moment, "the **Rasengan** is really the only thing you have left that connects you to my old student." That was a fact really. Not even his hair was the same anymore. When he was younger, Naruto's hair easily seemed to defy the laws of gravity like his father's. Now his hair came down around his head, though it was still wild and spiky. Their eyes were different as well. In Arashi's eyes you saw either hope or death, depending on whether you were friend or foe. Naruto's eyes…they didn't exactly look dead, like most Jinchuuriki's were. They were deeper than that. Three years ago they held a spark of insanity. Now they were completely empty. The blonde Jinchuuriki has finally created a perfect mask. It was at that point that he noticed that Naruto was smiling slightly. "Something amusing?"

"Then I'll refrain from using the **Rasengan**, until I finally become strong enough to stop using it completely."

Jiraiya mentally sighed. 'Not quite the lesson I wanted you to learn, but-' "-It's a start. And that sounds like a challenge." He momentarily moved to sit next to Naruto, though the boy made no move to change his position. "The first step to getting stronger, is learning what your weaknesses are? So what do you think they are?"

Never having trained, _actively_ training, with anyone other than Kakashi, had Naruto feeling a bit weird about Jiraiya's approach. "Taijutsu, Genjutsu…" He looked at the sword in his hand, "…and I need to get a lot better with this thing."

"What Taijutsu style are you using?"

"Whatever the hell the academy style is called."

Jiraiya sighed, "How the hell are you still alive? Academy style is a few steps above street fighting."

The blonde shrugged, "I stick to Ninjutsu most of the time."

"Mokuton…" the man said with a silent nod. "What sword style are you using?"

"The style that my friend, Rei, taught me."

"The style of the Hayate clan isn't bad, but unless you learn the _dances_, the special sword techniques that are a part of that style, you'll never get anywhere. And you'll never get those, unless you are actually a part of the Hayate clan, so ya wanna marry your friend Rei?"

Naruto didn't even react, as if he was completely ignoring the comment of the older man.

"Of course not, your more into pretty little brunettes." To Jiraiya's amusement, that got a reaction out of Naruto. "Anyway, there really aren't to many great sword styles in Konoha. With the exception of the Hayate clan, most sword masters usually come up with there own style."

"Tried doing that, but nothing seemed to fit…to be honest I've almost given up on this thing."

"Don't blame you, it's a lot easier to learn a few styles and use your current abilities to create your own style that way. A lot easier than creating something out of scratch." Jiraiya rubbed his chin for a moment. "If I were you I would learn one style, either Taijutsu or a weapon style, and then make a variation based on that to fit it into your abilities…in your case, mokuton. Essentially, you're going to make a style your own by complimenting it with your own movements and your own techniques."

Naruto shrugged, "Can't you teach me the style you use?"

"Regrettably, no." Jiraiya had his eyes closed in deep thought. "My taijutsu style is heavily involved in summoning toads and using toad style jutsu. All of those things you can only learn by signing the toad contract, which I'm not allowed to let anyone _else_ do."

Naruto immediately read the subtext of Jiraiya's words, "Yukina?"

"Your not the only child I wanted to train. Anyway, even if you're both the children of Arashi, the Toad Boss won't allow a second ninja trainee to sign the contract…not until the first one has finished their training at least. Trust me, I already tried talking to him about it."

"Since I don't have time to wait for Yukina to become a master, looks like I got to find something else."

"You could learn a couple of soft styles, in Taijutsu or with some weapon, and then work from there. I got a couple of ideas that you could compliment with your **Moku Bunshins.**" Looking thoughtfully, the man asked, "Which brings up the next subject, how's your Genjutsu?"

Naruto's smile dropped.

"We can work on that later." To become an elite, you had to truly master all three styles of shinobi arts. That's the difference between a specialist like Deidara and a reaper like Itachi. "Anyway, since you seem to prefer weapons, you can use that instead of Taijutsu."

"You just said that it wouldn't be a good idea for me to use a sword."

Jiraiya shook his head, "No, but there are plenty of other styles and plenty of other weapons. You want something that you can use with or without your jutsus." Jiraiya then rubbed his chin again, "Since your ancestors, on your mother's side, preferred to use pole-arms, why don't we start there?"

Naruto blinked, "So a staff or a spear?"

"Or a three piece staff."

A thought occurred to Naruto. "Didn't the old man use a staff?"

Jiraiya smiled at the memory. "Sarutobi-sensei was a surgeon with the staff. I once saw him completely undress his wife with a staff, without ripping or ruining any of her clothing."

The blonde child cringed. Never knowing the old man as a young man or ever meeting his wife, he simply saw Sarutobi as the aged grandfather figure. The thought of someone, even a big as pervert as Jiraiya, watching the _old_ man in a position like that was…_icky_. Pushing the bad…_very_ bad thoughts aside, he asked, "Was his style a clan style?"

"No…and the style is exactly what'd we need. The problem was that sensei used a _special_ staff. With his staff he was able to block a lot less and basically stay on the offensive. I suppose you could become adept with the style, even without a staff like senseis, with your demonic regeneration. However, if I were you I would ask to learn the style of the Ryuu clan and learn to use a three-piece staff."

That's when something hit Naruto, something that he didn't think about for close to a year. It would probably meet the requirements that Jiraiya spoke of, about having a special staff. Besides, if he was going to learn someone else's style, he wanted to learn _his_ style. After all, there was only one _God of Shinobi_. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

Jiraiya snapped his head in Naruto's direction, visibly shocked at the request. "What did you have in mind?"

"The paper used to test element affinities…is created from a special tree right?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened. The paper is a made from a tree that is fed chakra over the course of its life. Special tree equals special wood. Add that to Naruto's affinity for Mokuton and… Jiraiya sent Naruto a grin "You just may become a sage as well…"

------

"AAAHHHHHHH!" was the last thing that left the man's lips before he was smashed into the wall, breaking most of the bones in his body.

A lone man stood behind a wall, looking down on the battlefield under him. A straight wall of flames extended from one side of the field, to the other. On one side of the crimson wall stood his comrades, well over twenty of them, all wearing the hitai-ate that labeled them oto-nin. On the other side, stood six cloaked figures, faces concealed in darkness.

One of the oto-nin, his commanding officer Taichi, took a few steps forward and began rallying his comrades, "Come on! There's just six of them, let's show this scum what happens when these bastards screw with the Sound!" And then a Salamander the size of a house landed on him, smashing him into the ground.

That's when the shit hit the fan. All the others died soon afterwards. The lone ninja just sat there behind the wall, praying that those monsters wouldn't find him. To not have to feel the _pain_ that his former comrades were forced to go through. After a few moments, he no longer could feel their overwhelming presence. He slowly peeked over the side of the wall and let out a breath when he saw they were gone, most likely inside the base. Letting out a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding, he quickly turned around and prepared to run.

The moment he turned around his eyes widened.

He didn't even have a chance to scream…

-----

Jiraiya immediately stood up from his position. The older ninja had been going over the basics of genjutsu with the boy. He looked directly at the boy, "I think it's about time you learned the real reason why Tsunade sent Shizune and the others."

The blonde gave a small nod. He knew that they weren't simply there for _extra security._ But he figured it was one of those, 'need to know situations'. And frankly, if he _didn't_ need to know, he was a lot happier. "The most obvious answer would be a possible attack from another village, though I suppose if you're talking to me alone…Akatsuki?"

"Good guess. Tsunade learned that a couple of members of the Akatsuki are heading in our direction."

The blonde raised an eyebrow at that, "I thought…"

"Our spy network was compromised. Hell, the only reason we know what we know now is because a few of our Chunin happened to run into them by some crappy luck."

"How long until they get here."

"I'd say estimate about two days, but we're going to assume they'll arrive in one day."

"Which is why they sent Shizune and the others. They're here to guard the old people, while we fight the Akatsuki." The thought of dealing with those men again so soon both scared and excited him. 'We got our asses handed to use last time, what say we give them hell this time.'

Buring into the back of his mind was the image of the Kyuubi, grinning through its cage.

Jiraiya nodded, "I figured we may be able to borrow one or two of them, since they still have the samurai with them. Though frankly, I doubt that Yukina or the Inuzuka would do much good against a member of the Akatsuki. Gai's apprentice might be able to put up a fight against these particular members. Both Shizune and Haku should be of some use, though we'll be leaving Shizune on guard duty."

The blonde nodded. "Ok…so let's assume that it's the two of us plus Haku and Lee. So what's the plan? Who are we fighting anyway?"

The older ninja began rubbing his chin. "I want you to find the Uchiha and find out what he's doing."

Raising an eyebrow in inquiry, the blonde asked. "That Itachi guy?

Jiraiya shook his head immediately, "The younger one, he's in the area?"

That comment made the blonde's eyes widened in utter shock. "Sasuke? How the hell do you know that he's even here?"

"Toad scouts, idiot didn't think to conceal himself from such a small target."

"Ok…so why do you want me to go after him? Don't we have more important things to worry about? I mean…is going after Sasuke really that important at the moment."

"It's not. I'm just not quite sure how to deal with these three ninjas. I'm sure I can handle one or two myself."

"Okay…so why the hell do you have me on Uchiha duty."

"Two thing you should know. First is that the Uchiha is no longer a part of Oto." Naruto actually looked taken back by the proclamation. "The second is that some of my spies have told me of an Oto base in this area, though I never got a chance to confirm whether it was true or just bad intel on their part. I figured if the Uchiha is close by, then he _may_ know where that base is or may in fact be going there himself. I just want you to try and find out." With that said, Jiraiya began walking to the stairs that would lead him down. "According to my guy, who's actually a little toad, the Uchiha is in the forest. He's actually _directly_ North from this hotel. Seems to be heading towards some really big sword."

"But shouldn't we be more worried about the three s-class missing nin instead of Sasuke?"

He just called back, "I need some time to think of a plan, this is just so I don't feel like we're sitting on our asses doing nothing." And with that he disappeared down the stairs.

Immediately realizing that patience wasn't one of Jiraiya's virtues, he just turned in North. 'Really big sword in the middle of the forest. Must be heading towards Zabuza's grave.' It would make sense. The demon of Mist was buried in a grave with his sword acting as the head stone.

---

It took him almost no time at all to reach the northern forest. The moment he reached the edge of the forest, he was immediately met with a small toad, whom led the blonde the rest of the way. The moment the wood-user reached the clearing he spotted his former teammate. As he casually strolled to center, where Zabuza's grave was, a short surge of memories coming into his mind. This was, after all, the grave of his first real _enemy_, the demon of the hidden mist. Immediately spotting the Uchiha in front of the grave, he slowly began trotting over to him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked without even turning to look at the blonde.

In a face of pure boredom the blonde pulled out a piece of paper. "Before any pleasantries, I better say this before I forget. I'm sure there'll be at least one dumbass interrogating me on whether or not I tried to get you to come back to the village." Naruto looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. "_Oh Sasuke! Why, oh why did you leave us? Don't you know that Orochimaru simply wants to make you his sex slave…_" A brief flash of confusion came over Sasuke's face, before it turned into a loathing annoyance. After a moment Naruto quickly looked back at the piece of paper before he began chuckling to himself. "Sorry…got the wrong speech", he said as he put the paper back in his pocket. "This is the speech I prepared if you ever happened to hook up with Sakura."

The Uchiha scowled at the blonde, "All these years and your still a fool."

"It's only been about three years, I don't think the statement, _'All these years…'_ really fits in this case."

"I'll ask again, what the hell are you doing here?"

"A little toad saw you were in the area so he reported it back to a big toad who sent me to find you." His tone was back to sounding bored, though his mask was back on his face. "You don't seem like the type to be coming around to relive some old memories, so care to explain why you decided to visit his grave?"

"I'm taking Zabuza's sword."

The blonde raised an eyebrow at that statement before glancing at the Uchiha's own sword, sheathed at the back of his waist. "You…don't feel you're over compensating enough as it is?" He briefly moved his head to the right, easily avoiding a shurikan from the annoyed Uchiha. "I'll take that as a, _my current sword overcompensates me enough."_

Ignoring the second insult, the Uchiha took the hilt of Zabuza's sword, lifted it off the ground, and heaved it over his shoulder.

"You're an idiot you know."

That got the Uchiha's attention, as he turned to look at the blonde, **Sharingan** eye blazing. "Someone who could barely pass something as ridiculous as the Konoha ninja academy is calling _me_ an idiot?"

Grinning at the Uchiha, the blonde said, "Look I get it, nearly everyone in that village is annoying as hell and I could only assume that Oto was the same way. But you're never gonna get anywhere if you're by yourself."

"Everyone else will just get in my way."

"**He's afraid."**

'Afraid? He sounds as arrogant as always, how can you tell that he's afraid?'

"**I can smell it, even if it is through your damn nose." The demon made a few loud sniffing sounds. "There's something he's terrified of. Probably whatever forced him to leave his new master."**

'Something he's afraid of? His brother maybe.' He mentally shook his head, 'He'd be embracing another confrontation with Itachi. He can't just be afraid of a few hunter-nin. Hmmm…I don't get it! The only people that this jackass might be afraid of is Itachi or…' The blonde rolled his eyes, turning his back to the Uchiha at the same time. "Orochimaru." The lack of a facial expression made him believe that he could be on the wrong track, until…

"**That's it. His heart started racing."**

He took a moment to glance over Zabuza's sword. "Chunin Exams are over, so I really don't have to care about what happens to your dumb ass. Though one piece of advice, that sword couldn't save Zabuza and it won't save you from whatever the hell you're running from." With that the blonde began to walk away.

But before he could get more than a few steps, "I don't need this damn thing for more than a few seconds." Seeing the blonde's silent question, he decided to elaborate, "There's a barrier I have to destroy. It can literally burn anything that touches it, everything that is, except a certain type of metal." He gestured over to Zabuza's sword, "The swords of the Seven Swordsman of Mist are all made with this metal."

"Hmmm…"

Without another word, Naruto watched Sasuke walk away with Zabuza's sword over his back. He momentarily wondered if he should attempt to stop the Uchiha. This stopped being about returning Sasuke back to the village and had more to do about the Mist Demon's sword. While he only had a passing respect for the demon of the Mist, his feelings revolved more around the Haku. He knew that she would be upset if someone desecrated her _father's_ tomb, even if they were just taking the _headstone_.

"AAAHHHHH!"

Naruto cursed himself for not being more attentive, as he turned back towards Sasuke, to see him hunch over in pain, Zabuza's sword on the ground next to him. The cause…

"Pervert?"

Jiraiya glared at the boy for that comment. "Don't call me…oh screw." Jiraiya then fix Naruto a look, not even paying attention to the fact that Sasuke was currently writhing on the ground. "Thanks to the Uchiha, I think I've got a plan to deal with the members of Akatsuki that are coming after you. But the three of us will have to work together."

"**Is that fool serious? Even I can see that this won't end well."**

The blonde could only nod. 'Bold statement', Naruto looked over at Sasuke as the Uchiha began rising from the ground, 'Seems he's thinking the same thing.'

"You son of a-" The red-eyed ninja began as he began to un-sheath his sword.

"Uchiha, listen I know that we've never gotten along, and me smashing you in the stomach probably didn't help, but we need to work together if we're going to confront the threat of the Akatsuki", Jiraiya said, in a matter-of-fact voice, with a shit eating grin splitting his face.

For his part, Naruto was amused. Sasuke was going to murder Jiraiya the first chance he got, but he was still amused.

"I'll…kill…you…" with that, said Sasuke charged, his Sharingan blazing. The insanity of this man, to think that _he_ would help this old toad. Especially after said man slammed _him_ in the stomach.

Sasuke threw a punch aimed at Jiraiya's head. The old man quickly smacked the Uchiha's hand to the side, before smacking him in the side of the head with his other hand. Flying to the side several feet, Sasuke was able to land with the grace of a cat before starting a chain of hand seals.** "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!"** Sasuke breathed out three fireballs and threw a dozen shurikan, three of which were hidden in the flames. Jiraiya just stood there as both flames and kunai struck him simultaneously.

Before 'Jiraiya' could even transform into a log, Sasuke was already turning around, unsheathing his sword. Jiraiya blocked the sword strike, with his left hand. Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw his blade go deep into Jiraiya's hand, something that the man didn't seem to acknowledge. He wasn't even bleeding.

"**Doton: Yomi Numa."**

The first thing Sasuke noticed was the horrible smelled, and the second was that the ground seemed to be trying to swallow him whole. By the time he realized Jiraiya's ruse, the Uchiha was stuck to far under to try and escape. Sasuke was up to his neck in muck before he finally stopped sinking, most likely Jiraiya not wanting him dead. And why the hell was he having trouble using the **Kawarimi**? He then turned his attention the man he had been fighting, sending him a death glare as that same man dissolved into mud.

"Damn kids…always thinking they're hot shit."

The tomoe in Sasuke's eyes began spinning wildly as he glared at Jiraiya, as the man appeared out of the forest. "I'm going to fucking kill you!"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes, "Lets assume that you _could_ kill me, which you can't by the way, but let's assume that were possible. You'd never be able to kill me before I could activate the seal I placed on your stomach"

With that Sasuke froze in place, staring at the man in shocked, "Seal…"

"Why the hell do you think your chakra control was so screwed up? Like with that Fire Jutsu for example, it's a nice combo to hide shurikan inside of the fireballs that you breath out, but you threw nine shurikan too many." Jiraiya paused for a moment so that he could move over and lean against a tree. The sage did see Sasuke grind his teeth, obviously he had fully intended to breath out nine more fireballs too cover the shurikan. "Let me explain how this seal works, because it's actually quite impressive." Jiraiya's self-boasting made Sasuke grind his teeth with renewed vigor. "It's actually a seal, within a seal, within another one. The outer one is a containment seal, just like the name implies, it contains any seal that it has within it and doesn't allow them to function correctly. The middle one is a destruction seal-" seeing Sasuke flinch made Jiraiya grin. "-it's purpose is to destroy any seal that is within _it_. Now the inner seal doesn't really have a name, but it's actually a passive seal that will siphon a little of your chakra and turn you into a beacon." Seeing the boys', both Naruto and Sasuke, confusion, Jiraiya decided to elaborate before either voiced their question, "In short, if you had this seal on you, a _child_ a mile away would be able to sense you…even if he didn't understand what he was feeling. Try to imagine what that would mean for a skilled ninja like, for the sake of argument, Itachi."

He didn't need to be told to imagine what would happen. It was quite obvious that he'd have hunter-nin coming after him left and right. Some would be after the bounty that Konoha had placed on his head; the rest would be after his eyes. And if Itachi could sense him also it would make sneaking up on him or even trying to hide from his impossible, yet Itachi wouldn't have a problem with either…

"You have two options, since _I_ was the one who placed the seal on you. I can destroy the containment seal, which would in turn, also destroy the destruction seal and allow the third seal to work without problem, completely fucking up all your plans. Or I could activate the destruction seal, which would destroy the third seal, making that containment seal useless." Jiraiya then began rubbing his chin in deep thought, absentmindedly watched as a small bird flew and landed on top of Sasuke's head. He grinned as he could see the boy, arms deep in the muck, unable to do anything about such a minor annoyance. Even more amusing was that the bird seemed completely immune to Sasuke's killer intent. "Or you could also _try_ to kill me, I'll activate the seal before you can do so, and then you can try finding another seal master to deactivate the seal." At that point Jiraiya's grin took on a more evil gleam, "May I recommend my old teammate? Orochimaru always did have a thing for seals." Sasuke flinched at the man's name.

'Hook…line…and sinker.' "Now before you jump to conclusions, this isn't some sad attempt to try to get you to return to the village."

Utter shock washed over Sasuke. The only thing he could say in response was a childish, "It's not?", he said as if he were trying to avoid punishment from an adult, which he kinda was.

Even Naruto was shocked by Jiraiya's statement. He would have thought that the soul purpose of this was to return Sasuke to the village, which is what all the adults seemed to want to do.

"Well, ten minutes ago it might have been. But there are more important things than trying to get your ass back to Konoha and to stay there. Now if you can stop powdering your face and putting on your black eye-liner for a moment, maybe we can talk."

Sasuke growled at that comment. Naruto would have found it amusing, but Jiraiya had accused the boy of being emo a few hours ago as well.

Jiraiya turned towards Naruto, "Simply put, I have a plan to kill three members of that Akatsuki. Two of these guys are basically immortal and one of them that is too elusive to finish off. Which is why I'm concocting this plan to get rid of them." Jiraiya turned towards Sasuke this time, "This would also benefit you. If you were to just go after Itachi, there's always a chance that one of the others would try to get in your way. Killing a few of them off will probably help you achieve your goals in the future. Think about it for a second."

Sasuke did think about it. If the Akatsuki had two _immortal_ members, something he truly doubted, and Jiraiya had a plan to kill them then it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to assist the pervert. Problem was the seal that was now on his naval, how the hell would he fight with this thing screwing up his chakra control?

"By the way, a seal that is placed on your body only affects your control for a few minutes so it, your chakra control that is, probably back to normal. Might want to get out of that mud, it's really embarrassing."

Sasuke blinked a few times, wondering if the pervert could read minds. Forcing his hand to move through the mud, which seemed to have become easier all of a sudden, probably due to Jiraiya, he managed to move them into a hand seal. He then performed the Replacement technique, leaving a log to float in the mud; his control was back to normal. Scanning himself over, he noticed that his clothing was now stained in the brown foul smelling muck. He was grateful to see that his sheath was still strapped to his back and that he managed to bring his sword with him, which had been in his hand the whole time. In annoyance, he watched the bird, which originally was on his head, now was just on the top of the log. Missing the warmth Sasuke's hair provided, it flew off of the log. Obviously, it was smart enough not to attempt the same trick, now that Sasuke's sword hand seemed to be twitching. It didn't help his pride that Naruto was chuckling to himself.

"You decided yet?"

Grinding his teeth, he would have preferred not to be _blackmailed_ into this deal; he gave the man a nod.

Jiraiya grinned, before tossing a kunai towards Naruto. "I assume that the barrier is hiding one of Orochimaru's bases."

The Uchiha could only nod.

The sage waited a few seconds while Naruto scanned the kunai he had given the younger ninja…a three-pronged kunai "Good, that Kunai I gave Naruto will have the same effect as that big as sword; save you the trouble of having to lug that huge chunk of metal around." For once taking in a serious expression, " Now here's my plan."

---

Crimson splotches covered the normally gray walls. Rivers of blood pooled all across the floor, the origin being the corpses of over ten oto ninja.

Six figures continued walking down the hallway, paying the people whom they had just massacred little heed. The fools should have known better than to attack a GOD. 'Is this what Orochimaru has been doing for the last decade? This foolishness and his infuriating meddling ends NOW!'

The figure in front held his arm out in front of a large iron door, and almost immediately the door imploded inwards, and into the other room.

The six ninja walked into the room. The significantly better light finally illuminated their forms. They all wore matching black cloaks, red clouds all over them. Large straw hats hid the majority of their faces, the top of the cloak hiding most of the rest. The only thing visible within all the figures was their eyes, all of which were completely identical. Light purple, with multiple rings surrounding their irises.

They were now in a much larger room, which looked like some kind of throne room. A long red carpet, starting from the door they were at, and ran all the way down to a large golden throne. A pair of ancient Samurai armor, one on each side of the carpet, was set up every two meters along the carpet. The serpent himself was sitting in the chair, with the same twisted smile that he gave everyone. The man in front nodded, "Orochimaru…"

Orochimaru returned the nod, "Leader, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

The one in front raised his hand towards Orochimaru. "This has been an amusing game Orochimaru, but it's about time that this little game of cat and mouse ends."

"Isn't it beautiful Leader?" At this point Orochimaru stood up, held his arms out, and did a slow spin around.

Not showing any sort of emotion, or any other response, the leader could only think about how Orochimaru was always considered the odd man in the group. And being considered odd amongst a group of consisting of: a masochist, a man with mouths on his palms, a man who steals and uses the hearts of others, and a man who was also plants and had dual personalities was…quite a thing to say.

"This body…it possesses many unique qualities. It even grants me the eternal life that I've always wanted. I was a fool for not realizing it before. I have done so many experiments on this body for the better part of a decade, yet never thought to use it for what it was truly meant to be used."

The key phrase in Orochimaru's rant was, _eternal life_. The fool had been seeking eternal life for years. That and the ability to learn every single jutsu on the planet. The man grinned at such a foolish thought. He wanted the eyes of the Uchiha clan to gain every single jutsu on the planet…foolish. To gain them all, he would need to obtain _his_ eyes, not Itachi's.

"And it's all thanks to you. The science that I learned under you is what made all of this possible. Who would have thought that I would learn under one that used to apprentice under my foolish teammate?"

"And you will be killed by that same apprentice of your teammate."

Orochimaru grinned, "And how do you plan to perform such an act?"

In an ear piercing sound, one of the six fired his very own arm at the pale ninja, the projectile aimed to rip the man's head off from the neck. Unusually enough, it seemed that Orochimaru had no intention of dodging the attack. And finally, they discovered why. A second before the arm would have killed the man; a brown blur deflected the arm, leaving it to clatter against the side of the room.

The new figure stood in the middle of the room, between the six figures and the pale snake-nin, and appeared to look nothing like an ordinary human. Its skin was a sickly brown, with long white hair. A long reptilian tail extended from its tailbone, bony spines extended from it. The same bony spines extended from his backbone. Lastly there was a red dot over the inner edge of each of his eyes.

The leader regarded him with the same apathy he regarded everything else. "Another one of your experiments, Orochimaru? Hmmm, why must you continue to delay the inevitable is beyond reason Orochimaru. Do you really think you can defeat me…a God?"

Orochimaru grinned, "Quite simply leader, for I have tasted the fruit of knowledge. Now let me show you what it has taught me?" At that point the Snake Sannin raised his hand.

Pein hadn't seen the snake-nin cut his hand, making him silently wonder when the man had started bleeding. He watched the man begin a series of hand seals, curiosity getting the better of him. After the long chain of seals, four red boxes erupted from the ground, destroying the wooden floors they came out of. They looked like coffins, a single kanji on them, from left to right reading…

"One…two…three…four…"

The pale man chuckled, "I'm not sure if I should compliment you for reading or for counting."

"Your infamous necromancy. To take my divine ability and twist it into such a perverse form?" he asked, ignoring Orochimaru's insult. The man would be killed soon enough. At that point, something caught his eye.

A thin mat sat in front of each of the coffins. On the first mat was what looked like…seeds maybe or perhaps some kind of pellets. On the second mat was what looked like the hilt of a sword, though strangely enough it lacked a blade. The third mat contained a long silver staff, it actually going over the edge of the mat. The final mat had on pouches, with what looked like kunai sticking out of them.

"I can't help but wonder who would be stronger. The Six paths of Pein? Or the four men who were named the strongest in Leaf?"

With that, the coffins opened, revealing a body in each one. They were all young men, probably in there twenties or early thirties. The first man had long black hair, similar eyes, and tanned skin. He wore what looked like a black body suit, with a large red chest plate on top.

The second man had much paler skin and gray hair, misleadingly making him looking somewhat older than the first. He had three red markings on his face, matching his crimson eyes. Like the first, he to wore a black body suit and a chest plate, though his armor was blue.

The third man had short black hair, hidden underneath a black samurai-like helmet. Unlike the other two, he also sported a small black beard. This man wore thin chain linked armor, underneath his black body suit.

The final man had blonde hair and sky blue eyes, something that seemed strange for a ninja. Unlike the other three, he simply wore the outfit that most Jounin from Konohagakure no Sato wore.

All four of them wore a white cape/cloak, with red flames licking the bottom.

The first thing they all did was walk towards the mats and grabbed the items that were on them. Orochimaru immediately summoned his Kusanagi, the infamous Grass Cutter, and went to stand a few steps in front of the four Kages. "One year ago, summoning all four of these men together would have been a fatal mistake. My former method of having to manually put even two of these men under my control was close to suicidal. As you can see" Orochimaru then waved his hand. "My ability has evolved."

A lesser man would have cringed in fear. Pein looked on with the same apathy that he looked at everything with. He wouldn't run away. He was a god. He would crush this snake and anyone or anything that would stand against him.

Both Pein and Orochimaru smirked.

The time for reckoning had arrived….

**

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A/N: I would love to say something like, I hope this chapter was worth the wait…unfortunately I doubt waiting a year for a freaking update is worth anything I could have posted.**

**Either way, I hope ya'll enjoyed it.**


	20. Notice of Termination, Sorry

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or this fanfic anymore.

To all of my loyal readers, I'm upset to inform you that I have OFFICIALLY terminated this story. In truth I've lost interest in this particular story, probably from reading the manga. It got to the point where I decided to either quit the story or rewrite it from the ground up. Obviously I never rewrote it, but someone else offered to do so and finish it. The fic was actually adopted by another fanfic writer named **Itachifreak8271,** under the name "Senju Uzumaki Naruto".

I read the first chapter and while it seems more or less similar, it also has some differences promised in the AN. I let him/her know where I was planning to go with the story, but I also said they could have a creative license with the story, so whatever happens will be up to him/her.

Anyway, peace to everyone. Sorry again.


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